Do you know Mary T. Klinker? You should.

Mary T. Klinker died in 1975, serving our country and serving the children of Vietnam. Captain Klinker was a flight nurse, and her final mission was to escort a plane full of children as part of “Operation Babylift,” an effort to evacuate as many orphans and refugees as possible from Vietnam as the war drew to a close.

On April 4th, 1975, during the inaugural flight of the operation, the plane carrying Mary crashed. Mary, along with 137 flight crew members and children, perished in the tragic accident. (https://www.lumserve.org/blog/2012/10/15/mary-klinker/)

Mary spent most of her life in Lafayette, Indiana. Today, I was reminded of the incredible sacrifices people like her made for our great country when I visited the Mary T. Klinker Veteran Center, Restoring Hope, in Benton County, Indiana, not far from Lafayette. Their mission is to provide homeless veterans and those in need with the resources to heal. The center is in the process of restoring a former National Guard armory into a live-in facility for veterans recovering from trauma. Among the plans are two rooms specifically for veterans and their families. I was there to share my experiences in peer support and restoring veterans. I look forward to serving Restoring Hope and the veterans who will come there looking hope and a new beginning.

A group of veterans from GE Aerospace (https://www.geaerospace.com/) was also there, volunteering their time to help rehab the facility. As I was given a tour, I came across a portrait of Mary, a gift to Restoring Hope from her family. It was a painting she had commissioned herself, now hanging in a hallway of a facility dedicated to helping veterans rebuild their lives.

It’s easy to think of heroes as those we see in movies, but most heroes make sacrifices that few remember, or even know about. Heroes like Mary give everything because it’s the right thing to do. She served the least among us: orphaned children and the homeless.

Restoring Hope is located in one of the most rural counties in Indiana—so rural it doesn’t even have a grocery store! But in Benton County, they are doing something remarkable, honoring the legacy of a woman who gave everything for her country and for children desperate for a new life.

I have two challenges for you:

1. Support Restoring Hope in any way you can. This should be a model for how communities support veterans across the country. (https://www.mtkvets.org/donate/)
2. Consider what you can do to help “the least of these,” whoever they may be in your community. Not for fame or recognition, but because it’s the right thing to do.

The land of the Free. The home of the Brave. Let us be a nation of people like Mary T. Klinger.