San Antonio Stay

Hello, San Antonio!  We set up camp at Ft. Sam Houston, now designated as Joint Base San Antonio due to the closing of Brooks Air Force base and it's subsequent combination with Ft. Sam Houston.  It was a very nice facility and we were blessed to have the San Antonio Military Care Center (SAMCC) - (gotta have an acronym, right?!) right there on base.  Stacey had a bit of a medical scare that she was seen for at the SAMCC.  She was given a clean bill of health.  
An interesting fact about the SAMCC is that it shares Level 1 trauma responsibilities with one other civilian trauma hospital in San Antonio.  The two facilities split the San Antonio metro area in two. The SAMCC is not only a trauma center but, it is a training facility where military doctors and staff get "combat" experience by treating local civilian trauma patients.  Likewise, the local community gets the benefit of having doctors who have seen and treated actual combat related wounds, while serving over seas in Afghanistan & Iraq. We saw many a helicopter Life Flight coming and going from this facility. On average, the trauma team treats at least six patients an evening for some sort of trauma (gunshot, knife wound, car accidents, etc..) From what I know, this is at no cost to patients or the community and it ensures that our military doctors are combat ready in order to care for our soldiers, who willing put their life on the line.  It is interesting how God works to never waste a hurt.
While in the SAMCC, Stacey met a mother of a 20 year old wounded warrior Marine, who had a leg removed below the knee, as a result of an Improvised Explosive Device.  The two of them have been in contact since and Stacey continues to share with her the love of Christ, as their family struggles.  
While at the Ft. Sam Houston campground, we also met another Marine, who was hit with an IED while serving overseas two years ago.  At the time he was hit he had 16 years in the Marines and his wife was pregnant with their first child.  His convoy was struck and he ended up paralyzed from the chest down.  His view of his situation he is humbling.  He shared that he was grateful to be alive and he noted that two of his comrades in his vehicle did not survive.  He said that if he had not been hit then he would have missed the birth of his child because he would have been still deployed.  He said he was grateful that he was grateful to be alive and with his family and that he did not have to worry about medical care. Due to his injuries he was medically retired and the VA had modified his vehicles for him.  God bless him and all who have been injured and made the ultimate sacrifice I am so blessed to have served so long in our military and not to have been wounded or killed.  To these men and others....I salute you!

Along with meeting some world class American patriots, we got to experience the rich history of San Antonio.  San Antonio was named after San Antonio de Paua, a Spanish explorer who stopped here on June 13, 1691.   Today, San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the U.S. Enjoy some of the photos of our time here in San Antonio!

Heidi & Hailey at the entrance to our "home" in San Antonio!

Stacey, me & Heidi in front of Mission San Jose.  Hailey took this picture of us. In the 18th Century, the Spanish empire established 5 Catholic missions along the San Antonio River.  This is one of the those that remain and is one of the best and most well preserved in the chain of missions you can visit.  Along the San Antonio River is the largest concentration of missions in North America, to include the Alamo itself.  The aqueducts built by the local natives (along with the missions themselves) under the direction of the Spanish priests still flow. 

Me and my girls in on the grounds of the Mission San Jose.

Heidi in front of the Church, in side the walls, of Mission San Jose. It was founded in 1720 and is referred to as the "Queen of the Missions" due to it's remarkable architecture.  It represents one of the finest examples of ornamental architecture in our Nation.  

Stacey and Heidi inside the sanctuary at mission San Jose. One of the marvels of this place is the stairway to the belfry.  Each one of the 25 risers was hand made from a solid piece of oak and linked together without nails.  It still is intake today.

Heidi, Stacey and Hailey on the beautiful river walk in downtown San Antonio. We learned that early city leaders, in order to curb flooding from the San Antonio river proposed paving over top the river that runs thru San Antonio and utilizing that section as a sewer runoff project!  I'm glad that they did not as the flood gates and routing of the river we see today is beautiful.  

Stacey, Hailey and Me in front of the squadron dormitory building  on Lackland Air Force Base, where my military experience started 24 years ago.  Back then I was a scared 19 year old thinking I'd never make it.  Surreal to come back now with my family for a visit as a retiring Lt Colonel!   I chatted with some Military Training Instructors (MTIs)  and met the squadron commander, also a Lt Colonel.  

Heidi, Me and Hailey in front of the my old Basic Training squadron mascot.

Heidi, Me and Hailey on the parade grounds of Lackland Air Force base, where all enlisted Airman make a final pass in review before the Commanding General in a massive graduation ceremony.

Molly our dog and Hailey "horse around" on a replica wagon set up on Joint Base San Antonio.

Our "wagon" set up on Joint Base San Antonio.

Me and my girls as we "Remember the Alamo!"  Why should we remember the Alamo, you ask? In 1836, "Remember the Alamo!" was the battle-cry of the Texas army.  The Texas Revolution, of which the Alamo battle cry was a part, led to the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas in 1836.  In 1845, Texas became the 28th State of the Union, an event that led to a war with Mexico.  At the close of the war in 1848, Mexico ceded the future states of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California to the United States.  This chain of events established the United stats as a continental power and made it possible for the nation to become the world power it is today.  Some may view this as a United States imperial land grab.  On the contrary, the Texas Revolution, much like the American Revolution was due to the abrupt change in Mexican government that led to the installment of a military dictator named General Santa Ana, who imposed strict taxes on Texas territory settlers and oppressive oversight....leading to the Texas Revolution against this totalitarian dictator.  The independent Texas Republic chose then to join the United States as a free territory. You can read more about the history of the Alamo at this link: The Alamo.

Well...it's off to Corpus Christi, Texas!