Hometown Hero: Paul VanWasshenova

Paul is a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force, stationed at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. He's been all over the world, including many trips to the Middle East to chase the "bad men" as Aly, our 7 year old daughter, calls them.

He's spent 9 out of our last 10 wedding anniversaries overseas, missed 9 of the last 10 Christmas seasons, and many other birthdays and holidays, family events and little things in our children's lives. He never complains about missing out, just smiles, says take a lot of pictures, give the kids extra kisses, the dog some extra scratches, dons his BDU's and boards a plane, bound for places I don't even want to begin to imagine.

Paul never fusses when duty calls, never argues that he doesn't want to go, even if it cancels any plans we made. He's gearing up for his turn in Iraq, which means another Alex birthday without him (Alex is our 10 year old son who has mild autism), another Thanksgiving and Christmas without him, but I am not going to complain. Instead, I'll do my usual routine for when he's gone to serve. Light a candle, say extra prayers, throw an extra blanket on the bed, tuck the kids in extra tight and thank my lucky stars that he's not only my husband, but he's my hero too.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
Nichole L. VanWasshenova