Fighter Wing bids farewell, offers support

Date: 10/3/2014

WESTFIELD – More than 30 members of the 104th Fighter Wing will soon touch down on foreign soil, many of them for the first time. With their send off-ceremony, command leaders emphasized the importance of remaining connected with loved ones and noted that the mission was to provide safety and hope to the many families in duress overseas.

Barnes Air National Guard Base said goodbye to its Security Forces Squadron on Sept. 29. The members will head to Southwest Asia for a six-month stint to provide resource protection to the Central Command. The event was a chance for leaders within the 104th, from the state and the city to pay homage to those about to leave and their perspective families, who attended the ceremony as well.
   
According to Col. James Keefe, this will be the 16th deployment, stateside and overseas, that the 104th Security Forces Squadron has supported since 2001, not including local contingency efforts or special details such as patrolling the Boston Marathon.
   
“Liberty is what we’re trying to transport across the border,” Maj. Gen. L Scott Rice said. “Liberty is what we’re trying to give to Iraq in their time of turmoil and to Afghanistan.”
   
Rice stressed that the soldiers should keep regular contact with their families. He said that any detail, regardless of how mundane – the difference of climate or landscape even – is something that can be shared with one’s friends and families.
   
State Sen. Donald Humason Jr. directly addressed the families. “We’re [the local and state officials] here to take care of you,” he said, urging them not to hesitate to ask for whatever type of support or assistance they needed.
   
State Rep. John Velis, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, told the squadron, “You’re our heroes.”
   
Velis echoed Rice’s sentiment and said, “Needless to say, I’ve been in your seat. The most important thing is staying in contact with your family. I had no idea until I got back from down range important that was. When in doubt, pick up the phone and call home.”
   
Mayor Daniel Knapik discussed the residual effects of the work the soldiers were doing, which he’s seen first-hand working with families that have relocated to the United States.
   
Knapik stated, “I have the unique opportunity to share with you what liberty means to some of our newest refugees that have landed in the United States. Over the last few years, I have gotten to meet families who resettled in Westfield from Iraq and from other fractured territories of the Middle East that have had incredible upheaval in the last decade.”
   
Knapik continued, “They will never know you. They’ll never know your faces. They’ll never know your families, but they’re in Westfield Public schools right now.”
   
The mayor shared the story of an Iraqi family that found safety in the U.S. and whose son wants to serve in the Marines from the influence of the soldiers who saved his life.
   
Knapik added, “I want you to know that your mission is truly honorable. To the families, thank you. It’s an incredible sacrifice that those of us who haven’t served can’t even imagine.”
   
Coleman Nee, secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services and veteran of the United States Marine Corps, said, “I can’t thank you enough not only as the secretary of Veterans’ Services, but as a citizen of this country, as a father and a husband. We can’t repay you, but we should never stop trying.”   
   
Brig. Gen. Gary Keefe said, “You’re not fighting a religion, you’re fighting criminals. That’s what they are and they’re always going to be there. Someone once said, ‘Democracy is gained and kept at the end of a gun barrel’ and that’s what we’re asking you to do.”
   
He added, “Most important, [30] of you leave, [30] of you come back home.”
   
Rice said, “You have to stand on the professionalism and training you’ve worked so hard for.”
   
Col. Keefe said, “You’re in good hands and you’re well trained. This is an important deployment, especially with what’s going on in the Middle East. There’s a lot of unrest, a lot of unknowns going on out there, so you’re going to have to rely on your training. You have all the combat skills you need to do what you need to do. Be safe. Don’t let your guard down.”
   
Col. Keefe advised the squadron not to worry about their families because the base was there to provide support and assist with any needs that might arise in their absence.
   
Maj. Steve Reynolds, commander of the squadron, said, “You are the men and women, defenders, that volunteered to come aboard and serve the country.”
   
Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Puccio said, “You’re providing hope and freedom in the face of tyranny and terrorism.”