Photo By Master Sgt. Lynette Hoke | Tech Sgt Scott Leffler of the 133rd Civil Engineer Squadron works together with...... read more read more
“Kids aren’t ready to learn unless they are fed. It is a neat way to contribute. A coat of paint, anyone could do that,” said Tech. Sgt. Scott Leffler. “Every kid in the building will be able to benefit from what we are doing.”
Leffler and other members of the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 133rd and 148th Civil Engineer Squadrons and members of the Minnesota Army National Guard 851st Vertical Engineer Company are working tirelessly to complete the month-long project on time.
“I wish I could have been here when the kids were in school,” said Leffler. “It’s great to get that connection and it is great to feel like we were able to serve the kids here.”
The town was severely impacted by conflicts in the early nineties. Passersby can still see bullet holes in the buildings and how portions of the area still remain unrepaired 30 years later.
“It added a level of realism to the situation here, what these people have gone through,” said Leffler. “You can easily see damage in some parts of town, the things that haven’t been touched and 30 years later we are still a part of the process.”
The members of the group are encouraged to eat and adventure in the town of Karlovac. Leffler and some other Airmen from the 133rd Airlift Wing were recently drinking coffee at a local café and came across a member of the community who was forever positively affected by his experience with U.S. military members.
“This guy didn’t speak a lot of English, but he was telling us during the war he stepped on a mine and it blew threw his arm,” said Leffler. “He said that it was the American doctors who saved his life and he thanked us for that – that meant a lot.”
Military members from around Minnesota and a few parts of Wisconsin are joined with about a dozen engineers of the Croatian Army to complete the tasking job in just a handful of weeks.
“The Croatian army here is a riot and it has been great getting know them,” said Leffler, the year veteran of the Air National Guard “I think they are enjoying being with us just as much as we are enjoying being here with them.”
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.27.2016 04:42 |
| Story ID: | 202512 |
| Location: | KARLOVAC, HR |
| Hometown: | CHISAGO CITY, MN, US |
| Hometown: | ST. PAUL, MN, US |
| Web Views: | 306 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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