The joy of giving back Published June 3, 2009 By Capt. Dana Longo 43rd Medical Group POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Editor's note: The following story is a personal volunteer experience written from a first-person perspective. We all have reason to be grateful for what we've achieved. The Air Force has provided all of us with a career path and opportunities for self-betterment and self-fulfillment. With this privilege comes responsibility. In our great country, economic times have been tough. Gratefully, to a large extent, we have been insulated from many of the current headlines that report job layoffs, bankruptcies, companies and pensions failing. More than ever, this is a time for all of us to try and give back to society and show our gratitude. Recently, I had the opportunity to join in a Sierra Club Service Project for a week in Antietam, Md. The Sierra Club is a strong advocate of the outdoor lifestyle of enjoying our national parks and getting out there for education and to push yourself to help maintain parks, trails and other National sites that provide so much enjoyment for Americans. The group I was in consisted of about 20 people, some retired, most not. Many were veterans who had served in the Vietnam era and in Desert Storm. There were retired teachers, a graduate student, a dentist, an artist, a computer teacher and others. We lived for the week in five cabins a short distance from the Antietam Park Battlefield. Antietam was the Civil War Battle that marked the first Southern invasion of the North by troops under Gen. Robert E. Lee. The battle was fought to a bloody stalemate with Southern troops withdrawing. This non-defeat gave President Lincoln political cover to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Our job as part of the work service project was to restore the Joseph Phoffenberger Farm on the north side of the battlefield, which was used as a staging point for a Union Corp under General Hooker. We dug fencepost holes, painted and made fences, cleaned out a barn and prepped it for restoration. We worked alongside five National Park Rangers. Coffee and lunch were brought out to the site where we had a big picnic daily. At the completion of the week, the Rangers held a "graduation" ceremony and presented all of us with certificates, patches and pins. The park superintendent shook our hands and praised us for what we had accomplished. I feel a special satisfaction in that I was able to give back, considering all that this country and our Air Force has done for me. Although I've participated in other projects (Habitat for Humanity, Fisher House, animal rescue), I'm really proud of the work I accomplished and the bonding with like- minded people that I experienced. I urge all people in uniform to seek out a way to give back for what has been given to us.