Thankfulness for military family, friends never ends

  • Published
  • By Denny Heath
South Haven, Minn. --  Editor's note: The below article is from the father of a Moody Airman who is thankful for the continual military family his own military service provided his son.

Hello,
I hope you find this story as heartwarming and beautiful as my family did.

My name is Denny Heath. My wife Susan and I are the very proud parents of a Moody Air Force Base Airman. We live in central Minnesota near the small town of South Haven.

My son Josh (Airman 1st Class Joshua Heath) is an avionics specialist assigned to the 23rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron there. He got to spend his entire Thanksgiving holiday break with the family of George and Giselle "Puchi" Orta who live near Eustis, Fla.
Joshua said, "It was great to spend Thanksgiving somewhere where it felt like I was around family." He said the food was fantastic, and getting to know all of them better was lots of fun. He really enjoyed playing board games, cards, video games, watching movies, and just relaxing and feeling at home.

George Orta and I were military policemen stationed near Stuttgart, West Germany, for two years in the early 1980s. Our work schedule consisted of working 24 hour shifts on duty, with 24 hours off duty, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I was based at a very small Army installation for nearly a year before I returned home to marry my wife Susan.

I had already endured one extremely lonely holiday season away from home, and thought that being with my new wife would make our time away from family and friends less difficult. It didn't. As it turns out, my wife missed her family almost immediately and living "off base" as a military spouse was isolating and lonely in itself. I was really worried how being alone over the approaching Thanksgiving holiday would affect us and our marriage.

Right around that same time, George was assigned to the same unit as me and he also brought along his young bride Puchi (poochie). They too were required to find housing off base. George and I had already gotten to know each other because we basically worked and lived together every other day, and it wasn't long at all before our wives became close friends.

Many times when we were "on duty" our wives would spend time together doing all the things friends and wives do together, and on many occasions they would even stay overnight at either of our apartments to keep each other company as to not be "home alone."

Whether or not we realized it then, we became like family in spirit and Susan and Puchi were more like sisters than friends! Being together with these close friends over that Thanksgiving and Christmas and into the next year was wonderful and it made our loneliness for home and family so much easier to bear.

So getting back to Joshua... It has been 28 years since that holiday season in Germany. Our contact with the Orta's was very limited, but we were blessed to be able to visit them twice since then. Once when our children were young on a trip to Disneyland, and this past May we spent an evening with them when we came to Moody to visit our son.

Since our last visit, I have kept in periodic contact with the Orta family through social media websites, and it was with great joy and surprise that we found out that Joshua had been invited to be part of the Orta family Thanksgiving weekend!

When I spoke to the Orta's and thanked them for welcoming my son into their home, they said that they still remember how lonely and sad a person can feel when they are far from home and the family, great food, and the traditions which we have grown to love and be THANKFUL for.

They also said that they were deeply honored that Joshua accepted their invitation, and that they were all happy to be his family for "us" here in Minnesota. These dear and lasting friends truly understand and appreciate the sacrifice and commitment those serving in the military have made for all of us, in order that we may pause and give thanks for not just for our family, friends, and faith, but most importantly for our freedom !