Soldiers, children given time to bond

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
KING SALMON, Alaska --   Eleven Fort Richardson Soldiers and 11 of their children took part in the first Bristol Bay American Heroes Fishing Derby here Aug. 6-10. 

The Soldiers and their children spent four days in King Salmon getting the opportunities to go sightseeing for bear and spending the days out on the water fishing for silver salmon. Each Soldier and their child were provided a guide and boat. Many people from King Salmon's community donated their boats and time for this event. 

Susan DeDionisio, Fort Richardson's Morale, Welfare and Recreation partner specialist, coordinated the trip with King Salmon's Bristol Bay Elks Lodge 2687 to make this trip happen. The goal of the trip was to give time back to the Soldiers and their children, and allow them bond with each other. 

"I have listened to the kids through the years about their families being deployed, and getting that quality time like we use to have with our parents, well you just don't see it as much," said DeDionisio. 

DeDionisio said she's honored to have planned the trip for the Soldiers and their children. 

"I can't even put it into words of how much of an amazing experience this is," she said. "The children said that they were just so pleased, they were thinking of when they could come back." 

Stephen Marshall was one of the children who got to go on the trip. "It was pretty good," he said. Stephen is the son of Vincent Marshall, is a sergeant assigned to the 4th Quartermaster Detachment Airborne. 

Besides fishing, the Soldiers and their children played games, attended award ceremonies for the three biggest fish, ate a pizza dinner and had barbequed on the final day. 

"We had a lot of fun together and a little completion going on," said Kendall Ruebush, who took his son, Devin, along on the trip. Ruebush is a master sergeant assigned to the 59th Signal Battalion. 

Nearly everyone in the King Salmon and Naknek communities contributed to this event. 

"We had an overwhelming number of support from the community. It's just one thing this small town is very passionate about, and that's supporting our troops," said Mike Laufenburger, the leading knight for King Salmon's Elk organization. "Everyone jumped on board enthusiastically and we ended up with a pretty good turn out." 

Laufenburger said that he and the community look forward to doing this trip again next year. 

DeDionisio agreed and said she hopes to double the participants next year. She said that it won't get much larger than that because of safety being a main concern. She also said that another reason she doesn't want it to get much bigger is because she wants to keep a lot of the one-on-one time between the service members, their children and their guides. 

All in all Soldiers and their children seemed to enjoy their time together. 

"It was rewarding for everyone," said DeDionisio. 

For more information about this and other MWR program opportunities for all servicemembers, call DeDionisio at 384-2031.