Friends and Neighbors

I have a habit of talking/writing about our Service men and women as our friends and neighbors. I feel it's important to see our troops in that light. Because that is who they are, and that extends to their family as well. This was made real for me this year, this doggedly stressful and tortuous year when many of us may not be able to be with family for the holidays.

For our Active and Deployed that is par for the course.

That Socks & Cookies runs Kayak Fishing Tournaments to raise charity funds for our active military seems more than appropriate for how I met my friend and neighbor Dae Kim, father of First Lieutenant Rachel Kim.

At the start, a full fishing season ago and more we would see each other at the banks of local fisheries and tag each other with an angler's wave of shared interest, (it's fishing so passion really), and wishes for good luck. Outside of a quick, "Any luck?", we didn't speak much.

The following season, this past one we became infatuated with a small local pond which has become a place where Dae, myself and a couple others can be found at almost anytime of the day throwing a line when time doesn't allow for us to take the 'yaks out.

So it was inevitable that we would start talking about life, work and especially fishing between casts. We found that we both shared a love of Kayak fishing and a friendship was born leading to many hours out fishing together on the boats or the bank.

Anyone who fishes with their buddies can affirm as to how much you can learn about each other while out on the water. And so it was that I learned about Dae's family and his daughter Rachel. My plan was to write this flowery blog about the Kims highlighting 1st Lt Rachel Kim but after reading Dae and Rachel's answers in their own words I decided to paste the interview as sent to me. I doubt there is much that I could or would need to add. So here is the Kim family and their story...

Stacey and I immigrated to America during the mid-seventies when I was seven, and Stacey was

nine. We have three kids, Rachel is 25, our oldest, Nicholas is 23, and Alexander is 21.

S&C: What do you think you and your wife did in your children's upbringing that instilled the desire for her to serve?

We did not do anything specific to instill the desire to serve. As parents, we tried to build a

strong foundation for them to develop their own values and make their own decisions. We

emphasized the following. 1) Family – family comes first, first as a son or daughter, then as a

mom or dad with your own family. 2) Hard work – your life is what you make of it, and it will

depend on what you put into it. 3) Respect – treat everyone as equal and always be open-

minded. Life is about the experience, and people are your best classroom. 4) Compassion –

Your life should affect others for good because it will ensure your life is bigger than yourself.

When Rachel visited West Point and read the motto:

Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be,

what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. – General MacArthur.

I think the motto rang true, and she wanted to be involved in something much greater than

herself by joining West Point Military Academy.

Here, in Rachel's own words a brief history;

I am a First Lieutenant, Logistics Officer by trade (primarily maintenance operations).

I am currently doing a broadening assignment in Pittsburgh, PA at Carnegie Mellon University

with Army Futures Command, studying the applications of advanced technology for the Army.

I was previously stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, where I deployed to Poland and Germany for a ten-month rotation in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

Got accepted to West Point Military Academy in 2013 and graduated in 2017 with a Computer

Science degree. In 2016 I interned at National Security Agency (NSA) in Washington DC.

When we (Dae and Stacey) asked why the military, she said, "When I visited West Point and met with the cadets, I realized they were everything I was not.

They were highly structured, focused, disciplined, and part of something much greater than themselves."

She then reminded me that you always told me to learn those attributes as I become an adult. That is when I realized she was no longer my little girl, and she was a woman.

Especially as immigrants, we are happy she convinced us; we are now proud parents who are in awe of her achievements and thankful for her service to the country, which has been great to our family.

I asked 1st Lt Rachel Kim why she enlisted and what she likes about serving;

I joined the Army because I wanted to experience something that I know I wouldn’t experience

in the civilian world. I wanted to challenge myself and be part of something much bigger than

just a job.

The best part of serving is meeting all the people and soldiers that I’ve had the opportunity to

work with during my time. They are truly exceptional, hard-working people, and I wouldn’t want to have spent my twenties doing anything else.

The experience it provided on teamwork, dedication, honor and duty will be something I will

cherish for the rest of my life.

Dae Kim is my friend and neighbor. But for a chance meeting over common ground I might never know of his family's great story and their service to our country. I say "their" because the service to country is not simply that of the soldier but of that soldier's family as well.

Thank you Stacey, Dae, Alexander, Nicholas and most especially First Lieutenant Rachel Kim for your service.

Please help us bring a bit of joy and home to our active and deployed military. Just click the link http://www.socksandcookies.org/

Wishing everyone a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving...

Eric J