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Not even the rain and the wind could stop servicemembers and their families who wanted to send holiday greetings from Ramstein back to their families in the United States.
***image1***The Army and Air Force Hometown News team recorded holiday greetings for servicemembers and their families at the base exchange despite the dreary weather Sept. 5 and 6. Although many families do a greeting every year, there were a handful of newcomers to the holiday greeting program.
“This was our first holiday greeting, as this is our first overseas assignment. We’ve only been here about two months. My wife saw the advertisement in the paper, so we decided to come out,” said Capt. Raynold Vincent from the 435th Medical Group at Ramstein. “We did it because we will not be going home this year for the holidays, and it was something different.”
“Having the greeting air on television will let our family see that we are okay and that we are happy and healthy,” said Captain Vincent. “Plus, they will see us smiling and waving to them, instead of just hearing our voices.”
And though the greetings may not be long, they have a huge impact for family members back home.
“Holiday greetings are important for folks back in the states who can’t see their loved ones. I do holiday greets mainly for the payoff of the people calling to say thank you,” said Kristopher Grogan, chief of broadcast for Army and Air Force Hometown News.
Being with the Army and Air Force hometown news for nine years, Mr. Grogan has had his share of interesting and remarkable stories. Mr. Grogan received a phone call from a father who saw his daughter in a holiday greeting after 10 years of not seeing her. There have also been calls about finding ways to get child support of those in the greetings.
“Last year alone, the hometown news team recorded more than 2,000 greetings in Europe and more than 400 of the greetings were from the KMC. The greetings aired in nearly 100 million homes throughout America, “ said Mr. Grogan.
The hometown news crew traveled to 30 different installations in four countries in September. The Army and Air Force hometown news service was established in 1951 and it strives to tell the stories of Soldiers and Airmen.
The free service gathers information about servicemembers’ stories from around the world and submits them to thousands of newspapers, television and radio stations throughout the United States. For more information, visit their Web site at
http://hq.afnews.af.mil/hometown/.
