OPERATION ETTERS
2026 Veteran Mission
Wes enlisted in the Air Force in 1994 and served four years as a Security Forces Journeyman separating honorably in 1998 as a Senior Airman. In the late summer and fall of 1996, he deployed to Southwest Asia with the 4404th SPS, during Operation Southern Watch and Operations Desert Strike and Desert Focus.
Decades later, medical conditions connected to that service cut into his earnings. He fell behind on rent and eviction proceedings began. Twice he came within signing distance of a new lease, and twice the funding fell through. His VA in Altoona, Pennsylvania, had run out of options when they reached out to VRL for assistance.
Wes recounted: “I served in the peacetime ’90s. I was deployed to Saudi Arabia, as part of Operation Southern Watch as a member of the 4404th SPS. Wes received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. A military award given for service during missions involving the imminent threat of hostile actions.
My fellow peacetime veterans and I, feel like Korean War vets. Maybe we’re forgotten too. We deployed and did our job. Then everyone forgot about it. The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, is a big medal with a little shadow. Easily lost in the shadow of other campaigns.
Medical conditions from my service affected my earnings. I was unable to keep up with rent, and eviction proceedings had started. I reached out to the VA and through them, various funding sources toward rent became possible. Twice I was about to sign a lease, and twice the funding vanished. The landlord walked away, and I don’t blame them. I was just days from eviction.
Thats when Veterans Rebuilding Life reached out. Damia even asked if VRL could help me move. And they move fast: Veterans Rebuilding Life provided an emergency rent payment before my eviction. Even when I was sick in the hospital, Damia worked late hours through the weekend to make sure it happened.
Veterans Rebuilding Life received support from the Cigna Foundation, to help Wes move into a new home before the eviction, and is now rebuilding his his health, career, and life, each day. This happened at the last possible moment because of Damia and Veterans Rebuilding Life. Thank you for helping me when no one else could.