PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
The following Reflection represents Sgt Mona Hemphill-Bellmore’s legacy of their military service from 1970 to 1974. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life.
In what ways has serving in the military influenced the way you have approached your subsequent life and career?:
I was a shy, timid 18 yr-old high school graduate when I joined the USAF in 1970. I grew up poor and we moved a lot, so I had few friends and didn’t have the self-confidence to join school teams or participate in extracurricular activities. I learned after making it through basic training in summer time at Lackland AFB that I could do a lot more personally than I thought, and that being a part of a team enables you to accomplish much. This knowledge stayed with me throughout my career as an administrative specialist in military service, as well as civilian life, helping me gain confidence and the admiration, respect and trust of coworkers and supervisors.
Serving and living with a bunch of young women going through the same trials and expectations during basic training, the majority of whom graduated, showed me how perseverance, dedication to a common cause, compassion and compromise can enrich newly formed friendships. I realized that all people experience different personal trials and life-challenges daily, which are better overcome and met with help from friends, family and coworkers. Basic training taught me how to follow orders, think constructively, stand up for myself, consider others’ opinions, ask for help when needed, and be a valued team member. Thereafter, I became increasingly more outgoing, gained self-confidence, made friends more easily, and thrived in the workforce throughout my life.
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Baby Love by the sSupremes I was a new RN stationed at Gunter AFB for my orientation in 1965. Vietnam was just a distance rumble until I was assigned to Maxwell AFB as my permanent station and even then we had a trickle of Vietnam injured military personnel. I grew up fast.