Airman, family help evacuees Published Aug. 3, 2006 By Lisa Terry McKeown 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- It was meant to be a weekend at home with his parents in New Jersey. Airman 1st Class Daniel Reschke, 43rd Airlift Wing, and his family were going to take in a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game, but all that changed with the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. "My dad is a chief with the 305th Aerial Port Squadron and was called in to help the evacuees from Lebanon," said Airman Reschke. "He asked if I wanted to go and I jumped at the chance." Airman Reschke's mother also joined in the assistance. "Volunteers that weekend were few because people were not around to receive the calls for help," said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Reschke. "Daniel stepped in when he was needed most." At first, Airman Reschke helped with the "grunt work." "When I first got there, I was moving around chairs and getting the terminal straight for people coming in," he said. "When the C-17s started arriving, I was a sort of travel agent and helped people find cheap tickets online to their final destination." The first group of 102 citizens, under the State Department-led program, arrived July 23. Many started their journey aboard Navy ships from Lebanon to Cyprus, where they boarded C-17s which stopped at Ramstein Air Base, Germany and ultimately landed at McGuire AFB. After stepping off the aircraft, the evacuees walked through a sort of deployment line. They passed through U.S. Customs and then were met by representatives from the base's chapel, legal office, family support center and medical group. They were also met by the Red Cross and Salvation Army who provided hot meals, financial assistance and more. Finally, they were helped with their final travel plans by people like Airman Reschke. "The travelers were off the plane and onto busses to transport them to the next leg of their trip within two hours," said Sergeant Reschke. The "travelers" ranged in age from infants to 89-year old. "A lot of people just had the clothes on their backs," said Airman Reschke. "They had to leave everything behind. One 6-year old told me he had seen the fires and heard loud explosions when they were trying to leave Lebanon -- this is coming from a young kid and it's a war story." Sergeant Reschke said many of the evacuees shared their stories with him. "They gained great respect for the military in their time of need," he said. "One middle age man told me he had seen Soldiers before and had seen them as only Soldiers. He didn't realize what a Soldier does or means to the American people. He said he now realized what a Soldier really is and that he will always remember what they had done for him." A total of 19 C-17s transported evacuees to McGuire AFB and the base helped process more than 1,800 people into the country.