Area resident sends love to stationed troops
On Veterans Day, it's easy for people to say they are grateful for or they support members of the armed services.
But one Karns City woman has matched her deeds as well as her money and her time to her words.
Debbie Macurak last month shipped out 400 individual gift bags to the single airmen serving at Eielson Air Force base in Alaska, including her son Skylar Macurak, 20, who is serving a four-year stint at the air base.
“He went right into the Air Force after he graduated from high school in 2017,” she said.
The service branch was an easy choice for him, said Macurak, noting his older brother, Joshua Seybert, served in the Air Force from 2007 to 2010 and the Air Force Reserves from 2010 to 2016 and is now a civilian photographer for the 911th Airlift Wing based out of the Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station at the Pittsburgh International Airport.
Airman 1st Class Macurak has been at the Alaskan base for two years with two years to go in his initial enlistment, said his mother.
“He works on generators and the plane-arresting system on the runway,” his mother said.
And while he has been enjoying his off-duty time in Alaska by hunting, fishing and ice fishing, some of his comrades on base aren't as pleased with their assignment, especially since it's approaching the time of year where daylight dwindles down to a precious few hours.
Technical Sgt. Jerilyn Quintanilla, the base press officer, said, “The shortest day of the year is coming up, Dec. 21. On that day there is only a couple of recorded hours of daylight.”
Three hours and 42 minutes to be exact, with the sun rising at 10:50 a.m. and setting at 2:41 p.m. that day.
The Alaskan gloom can flatten morale, said Debbie Macurak.
“It gets to the point where there's very little daylight and what light there is, is more like dusk,” she said. “And it gets really cold. It's like 50 below zero on a regular basis. And that's the actual temperature, not the wind chill.”
The airmen at Eielson refer to the winter as “suicide season” because the cold and unrelieved dark is believed to increase the base suicide rate.
Adding to the mental pressure is the remoteness of Alaska from the rest of the United States.“Alaska and Hawaii are both considered overseas postings even though they are both (part of) the United States,” she said.She decided the airmen at her son's base needed a little reminder they weren't forgotten and that they were appreciated.She decided to send them a care package each month.In October, she gathered together Halloween candy and snacks such as chips and jerky, packed them in bags with a “Thinking of you” letter of appreciation and stamped the bags with an encouraging message. The first shipment of bags left Oct. 28.Once at the base, the bags were divvied up and delivered to the single airmen living in base dormitories.She paid for the shipment as well as the gathered snacks. But she did enlist the help of her co-workers at Berkshire Hathaway.The 60 Realtors at the Butler office as well as Realtors from the Grove City and Slippery Rock offices pitched in with donations.Gary Straub, the Butler office manager, applauded Macurak's initiative.“Everybody talks about how much they appreciate servicemen and women and nobody does anything,” said Straub.Macurak plans to have another shipment ready to go out Nov. 17. Talking with sergeants on the base, she's decided to send the airmen hand warmers and winter socks.December's shipment will contain mugs and hot chocolate mixes. A shipment in the New Year will contain toiletries.“If anybody wants to help, they can call me at 724-355-5911 or call the office (724-282-1313), or stop by the office and drop hand warmers and new winter socks in the box at my desk,” said Macurak.
