AFAF helps Mildenhall Airmen get through tough times

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
Tragedy rarely strikes at a convenient time, and it can be even tougher to handle with military members and their families who are stationed overseas.

The Air Force Assistance Fund lends critical support to fellow Airmen and their families - active duty and retired, officers and enlisted, enabling assistance with emergency needs, educational assistance and family support.

At the start of their Air Force careers, two of RAF Mildenhall's Airmen had devastating events occur in their lives, which led to them receiving help from the AFAF.

These are their stories:

Master Sgt. Tabitha Bennett:

In 2000, Airman 1st Class Bennett was pregnant and needed help.

"We thought we were having a normal pregnancy but then things started to go south for us," said the now master sergeant and 100th Communications Squadron Cyber Systems Operations NCO in charge, describing the start of what she and her husband went through.

That same year she had screening tests done during her pregnancy, but instead of getting good news, the test showed abnormalities.

She was immediately sent for further tests.

"They (the tests) showed there was something going on," Bennett said, explaining she was immediately put on bed rest.

Tragedy strikes

Things went from bad to worse.

"I was six months pregnant and we lost her," Bennett said sadly, as tears began to fill her eyes at the memory of her unborn daughter.

"I had to give birth, and while I was in the hospital, my temporary first sergeant called and said the Air Force Aid Society gave us a $5,000 grant to help pay for everything we needed."

Baby Morgann Lynn silently made her way into the world Feb. 21, 2001, and caused her parents the unbearable heartbreak of immediately saying goodbye. Their wedding anniversary was two days later, which made the situation even harder to bear.

The couple was in New Jersey; Bennett is from Louisiana and her husband is from California, so they were both far away from their families.

Help at hand

"We were pretty broke; it's not cheap to pay for a funeral, so AFAF gave us the $5,000 grant to pay for our baby to be transported and buried in the same cemetery in California as my husband's dad," recalled the senior NCO. "They paid for our plane tickets to go out there, for the headstone - they paid for everything."

Bennett's father-in-law died in 1999, when the couple were stationed in Turkey;

The couple was helped by AFAF back then, in the form of an interest-free loan to get them back to the States and their families straight away, where they were needed.

After the loss of their baby, help from the AFAF came at a crucial stage for the Bennetts. Their world had come crashing down, and they had no idea what to do.

"You don't plan for stuff like that, so to have the shirt call and say we were receiving the grant - it gave us a huge sense of relief," Bennett said, her voice cracking as she struggled to keep her emotions under control.

"It's hard because you're crying, grieving and you're upset; if we'd had to sort everything out ourselves at the same time, it would have been impossible to deal with. (Getting help from AFAF) made an awful experience as easy as you can make it on somebody," she said.


Lt. Col Dizzy Murphy:

In December 1999, Lt. Col. Dizzy Murphy, 100th Air Refueling Wing Inspector General, was a first lieutenant at Ft. Warren, Wyoming.

"I'd scheduled leave to go to Puerto Rico to visit my family," he said. "Being 'a wet-behind-the-ears lieutenant,' I wasn't saving money.

"Everything was going OK until the beginning of December, when I got a phone call from my mother telling me my father was ill and I needed to get back home as soon as possible. I told her that I was coming home in a couple of weeks," Murphy said.

Now or never

The very next day he received another phone call from his mom, telling him that a couple of weeks wasn't going to do, and he needed to get home now.

His plane tickets weren't refundable and he didn't have enough money to get back home.

"I explained the situation to her, but she said, 'Well, you need to find a way to get home because your father isn't going to make it until the time you get here.'"

Support from leadership

"My squadron commander called me into his office," Murphy recalled. "He told me, 'You may not have enough money, but you're going home.' He told me I had to go to the Air Force Aid Society and they would give me a loan."

Murphy went straight there and discovered his commander had already called them and a check was waiting for him for the amount of the new plane tickets.

"That same night I ended up going back home. A couple of days later, my father passed away. But thanks to that loan I was able to make it and see my father and say my goodbyes before he passed away.

"It's good this society exists, because otherwise I would have missed his death, his funeral - I would have missed everything," he continued. "It's there in case you need emergency money to get you through a crisis."

Reasons to donate

"You may not be the one on the crisis-end of it, but somebody else may be. If you are the one who ends up needing the money, with these guys it's their job to help, to get people out of a crisis without getting anything back. With the money you donate, while you may not see it straight away, you might be helping your buddy down the street get out of a tight jam.

"It's kind of like giving blood," Murphy explained. "You give blood and somebody will use it to save lives. While you're not necessarily saving a life, you're helping save someone from a crisis."

The AFAF Campaign is currently underway and Team Mildenhall members are encouraged to contribute and support fellow Airmen and their families.

Running from Feb. 29 to April 8, 2016, contributions to AFAF help provide financial assistance in emergency situations and crises, making situations easier for those needing help but unsure where to turn.

The campaign supports four charities: Air Force Aid Society, Air Force Enlisted Village, LeMay Foundation and Air Force Villages Charitable Foundation.

If a member is in a crisis and think they can benefit from AFAF assistance, they should speak with their chain of command.

To donate, see an assigned unit representative, or visit www.afassistancefund.org for more information.

Editor's note: A loan from the AFAF has to be paid back but is interest free. A grant from the AFAF does not have to be paid back.