A hero's creed: 'Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men'

  • Published
  • By Commentary by Chief Master Sgt. Craig Recker
  • Command Chief, 37th Training Wing
12/13/2011 --  12/13/2011 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- I can't begin to tell you how much time I spent pondering this holiday commentary. I thought about it for weeks and every time I put thought to paper, I stalled. My heart was in it. I just couldn't get past the first paragraph.

Not that I didn't have anything worthwhile to write. I just couldn't get it going once I asked myself a simple question: How does this inspire me? A hard question to answer since it's just filling space in the paper if you take nothing from it.

That inspiring message point was killing me. But then I got it figured out. How do I write a commentary to inspire people who inspire me? Maybe I shouldn't be telling a story from my perspective, but from the perspective of the people whose stories inspire me.

We walk among heroes at Lackland Air Force Base. They encompass the persona of the warrior Airman and wingman and tell who we are as people. They are our strength.

One trait I've noticed in heroes is they never accept that they are heroes. A hero is always someone else, never themselves. To prove it, they can tell the story of those they see as real heroes. They are humble to a fault.

I was exposed to one Airman's story recently. A man I can't say I really know, but his story inspired me and I believe it will inspire you. It's not precisely a holiday story, but speaks to a man's character and to the aspirations of humanity: "Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men."

His name is Capt. Kevin Lombardo. He's the operations director for Security Forces Training at Camp Bullis. His story started on March 12, 2008, in Tallil, Iraq.

Lombardo was with Army Sgt. Joel Tavera in Tallil on a fateful day in March 2008 when Tavera's armored vehicle was struck five times by enemy rockets, reducing the vehicle to a blazing pile of crushed and twisted metal. Lombardo, in the vehicle behind Tavera, pulled Tavera from the inferno and applied a tourniquet to his leg and tended to his other wounds.

The attack left Tavera in an 81-day coma recovering at the then Brooke Army Medical Center's burn unit. Tavera was permanently blinded, had severe burns over 60 percent of his body and was without a leg. Both men experienced the horrors of war.

Lombardo came to San Antonio after his Iraq deployment. He learned Tavera was at BAMC and forged a friendship with him only comrades in arms and heroes understand.
The captain attended Tavera's decoration ceremony in 2009 and they have remained friends. Lombardo has been there on Tavera's long road to recovery, making sure he and his family know Joel does not walk alone.

The road to recovery goes on seemingly forever but there are stops along the way that help ease the burden.

Tavera accepted the keys to a new home last month, built through donations from the Building Homes for Heroes organization. The two traveled together to Tampa to help dedicate the occasion.

Theirs is a friendship between warriors forged on the anvil of war. Men who first met in crisis on the battlefield were teamed again in Tampa, on a procession to Tavera's new home. Lombardo was a guest speaker at the home dedication ceremony. Because he was a guest speaker and there was a long roster of dignitaries at the event, he felt it wise to let us know he was going to Tampa to support his friend, a wounded warrior.

I might never have known about the captain's inspiring story were it not for that one little detail on being a guest speaker. The warrior, more than anyone, desires peace. We answer the call of duty not to seek the glory of war, but to bring the tranquility of peace. I'm sure if I asked Lombardo if he was a hero, he'd say, "No, I'm no hero, but my friend, Sgt. Joel Tavera is the hero." And he'd probably tell me why. Lombardo's story inspires me, and leaves me with the sense that even in time of armed conflict we still aspire to humanity's hope for "Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men."

Have a safe and happy holiday.