TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Thirty-four Airmen graduated from Tinker’s Airman Leadership School last month.
Graduates are:
122nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Griffin Bertrand
Senior Airman Kacey Johnson
137th Aeromed Evacuation Squadron
Senior Airman Joshua Hommen-Roddy
507th Medical Squadron
Senior Airman Maggie Green, Flight Leader
513th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Tyler Lawrence, Flight Leader
Senior Airman Keyontae Triplett
552nd Air Control/Networks Squadron
Senior Airman Stephen Pham
552nd Air Control Wing
Senior Airman Tino Rodriguez
Senior Airman Matthew Davis, John L. Levitow Award Winner
552nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Jace Chancellor
Senior Airman Angerina Draper
Senior Airman Darek Good
Senior Airman Christopher Fraser, Sharp Image Award Winner
Senior Airman Kelton Millhouse
Senior Airman Riley O’Neal, Leadership Award Winner
Senior Airman Derek Ellett
Senior Airman Alexander Jackson
552nd Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Bryson Rhymer
Senior Airman Brian Hunt
Senior Airman Fernando Munoz-Balderas
Senior Airman Romalace Jenkins
Senior Airman Brandon Mathews
Senior Airman Nicholas Shadowens
72nd Aerial Port Squadron
Senior Airman Ethan Griffith
72nd Medical Operations Squadron
Senior Airman Victor Severino, Freedom Citation Award Winner
72nd Operations Support Squadron
Senior Airman Austin Hodge
72nd Security Forces Squadron
Senior Airman Cody Mattson
Senior Airman Jason Blackburn, Class Leader Academic Award Winner, Distinguished Graduate
Senior Airman Patrick Johnson
Senior Airman Shannon Oakley
960th Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Stephen Bykowicz
963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Colton Smith, Distinguished Graduate
Senior Airman Kyron Peterson
966th Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Christopher Palmer, Flight Leader
Freedom Citation: What does Freedom mean to me?
An excerpt from Senior Airman Severino’s Freedom Citation.
-- by Senior Airman Victor Severino, 72nd Medical Operations Squadron
I am an American born on foreign lands. My story began 24 years ago in a small village called Moca, in the Dominican Republic; my village was called Tierra Dura, which translates as hard land. It was perhaps one of the most undesirable areas at the time, but to me, it was the world. I loved growing up there as a child and experiencing full sunshine, 80-degree weather year wide and climbing trees. Around that time, we had four television channels, we shared schools with other grades — high schoolers would go in the morning until noon and elementary schoolers would go in the afternoon until evening in the same buildings — the electricity would go out at least twice a day, if we were lucky; sometimes it would be out for weeks.
As cliché as this sounds, my mother always dreamed to come to America, where her two brothers and parents had been living for quite some time. Because of this, my two siblings and I had phenomenal ideas about how great America would be, idealized that the country was made of gold, and that everywhere and everyone smelled fantastically. It took us about two years to apply for a United States visa and even longer to get an official interview with the American embassy. My grandparents paid a lot of money for us to simply book an appointment, which would not even guarantee our visas. In 2000, my mother, older brother, younger sister and I waited in line for about 6 hours without any bathroom or food breaks, with about a thousand other people. Once we reached the booth, we saw a caucasian American man. There, he told my mom words that changed our lives forever, “the only reason that we will allow you and your children to enter the United States is because your brother is serving in the United States Air Force.” We were filled with excitement.
Gratefully, my uncle Victor, from whom I was named, and the U.S. Air Force, made a path for us to come to what I believe is the greatest country in the world. A month before our departure, and the official day that we gained our visas, a very unfortunate event occurred that changed our lives forever. On Sept. 11, 2001, my mother called my sister and I to the living room — my older brother was still in school; there, we saw the live news on our small mounted box television set. She had tears coming down her eyes and wanted her children close to her to process what was happening. One of the World Trade Center towers was hit by an airplane and there were people still inside. My mother was desperately calling New York to hear if my grandparents and her brothers were okay, but she could not get through. Almost an hour later, we saw another plane hit the other tower. We saw people jumping from the buildings, and the reporter, who was broadcasting in Spanish, was crying. A month later, on Oct. 26, 2001, we arrived to America at John Fitzgerald Kennedy Airport.
At age 19, I left New York to live with my Uncle Victor, who was stationed in Utah. He is one of my greatest mentors. He taught me tough love and convinced me to join the U.S. Air Force. Before taking that responsibility, he told me to get a job, and become a United States Citizen. I worked at a fast food place, burned myself a couple of times and learned to value work. The process to become a U.S. Citizen took about seven months to complete. One of the best feelings I have ever had was swearing the oath to protect my country, in times of need, from foreign and domestic adversaries, and bear arms for its freedom. Turning in my green card — which is not green at all — and seeing them shred it in front of me and being given a certificate stating that I was an official American citizen, made me a very happy man. Right after the ceremony that day, I went to a U.S. Air Force recruiter with my little American flag to get my application.
To conclude, almost sixteen years later, I still remember the 2,977 people that died on Sept. 11, 2001. In 2012, after all those years of living in New York, I saw the 9/11 memorial for the first time and it reminded me why I wanted to serve my country—it motivates me to this day to proudly wear the uniform. A few months ago, one of my greatest mentors, Master Sgt. Kenneth Kilman, told me that some people join the Air Force to either gain an educational opportunity or to escape their situational circumstances, but very few join simply for patriotism. I believe myself to be a patriot, because I still remember that unfortunate day, and it taught me a very valuable lesson, to ensure freedom for all. I believe that it made America a stronger country and united the world. This is what freedom means to me. I am Senior Airman Victor Alan Severino, and I am glad to proudly say I’m an American and a member of the United States Air Force.