Honoring the California Fallen

Army Sergeant First Class James F. Grissom, 31, of Hayward, CA, was assigned to 4th Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA. SFC Grisson died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, of wounds caused by small-arms fire March 18 in Paktika province, Afghanistan.

Reservation Made

I just left SoCal and am ready to head back down on my next vacation. My reservation for "my bed" at Amy and Kristi's house has been made!

Amy's Concert

I had not heard Amy play in years. The last time may have been at her Senior Recital during college. Wow! That WAS a long time ago.

She plays with the Corona Symphony Orchestra. An added bonus was getting to spend the evening with Kristi. It was a great night of music and conversation.

The Beth Wall

While deployed to AFG last year, I had the opportunity to thank many individuals and groups that helped me get to where I am today. In November of 2011 I carried a US flag with me on one of the MEDEVAC flights that I later sent to the Azusa Pacific University School of Nursing. Without the education and support of the faculty and staff of that program I would absolutely not be where I am today.

To my surprise, the President of the University formally presented the flag to the School of Nursing (SON) during the 2012 Pinning Ceremony (if you are an RN you will understand the significance). After the presentation it was hung in the entry way to the main office to the SON. It was really cool to see that other Professors get to see the result of the hard work they poured in to me. And I will forever be thankful for their hard work and dedication.

Hanging Out With Kristi's Class

Every year for Veteran's Day I get letters from first graders. The students in Kristi's class each write a letter and draw a picture. In return, I get to come down to their class and see them. During this visit we did PT together before taking the weekly math and spelling tests. I got 100% on my math test and a "great" on my spelling test. Unfortunately I only got a "good" on my penmanship. Yup, my bad handwriting strikes again!

Each time I get to hangout with these kiddos my spirits are lifted. How can you not leave a happier person when 19 kids are so happy to meet you and spend time with you?!?

Thanks Kristi for letting me crash your class!

A Glimpse of my Deployment

A glimpse of my life from DEC11-JUN12 with the Air Force Combat Search and Rescue fixed-wing unit known as FEVER.