Air show demo teams visit local community

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Allison M. Boehm
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Demonstration teams for the Defenders of Liberty 2011 Air Show visited local middle school students May 6 before the air show kicked off -- but their visits are not always about recruiting.

Members from the A-10 West Demo Team from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., took time away from the demands of air show to visit with a special group of children. Tech. Sgt. Lorenzo Garcia and Staff Sgt. Matthew Turner, crewmembers from the A-10 demo team, spent the morning with 10 young patients of Shriners Hospital for Children.

"This is a wonderful experience," said Sergeant Garcia. "It is an honor to have the opportunity to come here and visit with these amazing kids. I am so fortunate to be a member of this team and be given the chance to impact a child's life -- just to see them smile and hopefully help get their minds off everyday issues makes this visit worth it."

The children spent the morning posing for pictures with the two Airmen and learning about the A-10 aircraft. They also received Air Force stickers, small posters of the A-10 aircraft and were even able to hold one of the bullets the Airmen brought in from the plane.

"Sometimes facial expressions speak louder than words," said Tammy Moore, child life specialist at Shriners. "All I saw were smiles from the children today. The children really loved this visit."

Mrs. Moore also considered this experience a very neat opportunity for the kids to be able to see different professions and know that someone in the community cares about them and wants to come see them.

"We are so thankful these Airmen took the time to visit with our children here at Shriners," she said. "This will be something the kids will remember."