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Osan community donates competition medals to Korean hospital patients

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kristina Overton
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Osan Air Base, REPUBLIC OF KOREA --  Being fit to fight is one of the primary qualifications and most important aspects of being in the armed forces. Some members take that challenge to another level, participating in marathons, triathlons and other physically demanding competitions. The struggle to pull through and be victorious, despite the exhaustion and pain of the challenge, is well worth the effort once they've completed the journey. This is true in other walks of life as well. For those who fight debilitating illnesses or injuries, the long road to recovery is a difficult and trying part of the battle. To help support and recognize some these patients in their personal race, programs like Medals4Mettle provide hope and encouragement by donating hard-earned finisher's medals.

Volunteers from Osan Air Base traveled to Ajou University Hospital in Suwon to participate in the Medals4Mettle program Jan. 12. They gave out 16 medals attached with stories from the victors to patients at the hospital who might not be able to run a race, but are in a race of their own just to continue to live their life. It is in honor of this mettle and courage in bravely facing these challenges that they are awarded a medal.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen the bonds we have with our local community," said Lt. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, 7th Air Force commander. "I'm very grateful to the medical personnel of Ajou Hospital, the runners who donated their medals, and all those who participated in the Medals4Mettle program for helping to brighten the lives of the patients we visited."

Medals4Mettle was brought to the Republic of Korea by one of Osan's own members whose family had a person tie to the program.

"The reason we started was because my wife had heard of the program, and donated a medal she'd won doing to Great Wall of China Marathon to her father who was fighting cancer," said Maj. Jonathan Laatsch, 607th Air Support Operations Group director of operations. "He passed away a week after receiving it. After that, we really connected with the program and we looked forward to expanding. We started collecting medals here at the end of June, and after about six months, we became our own chapter in Seoul, Korea."

The medals given to the men, women and children at Ajou University Hospital were donated from active-duty members and dependants on Osan Air Base.

"We are looking to get more volunteers in the local areas and support to keep the program going and help carry it on into the future so we can really make an impact," Laatsch said. "We are hoping to pull more medals from all over Korea."

For more information, visit www.Medals4Mettle.org.