EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – One of the toughest things about serving in the military is being away from home for important “life” events like the birth of a child.
Spc. Mark Chandler is a Fort Bliss soldier who has been deployed in Europe for most of the year.
He got some help from a relatively new nonprofit – Miles for Military – and was able to fly back home to see his family, landing Friday, Aug. 1 at El Paso International Airport.
More importantly, he will be present when his wife, Ashley, gives birth to twins. She is expecting any day now.
“For me as a specialist, lower enlisted, a thousand dollars for a plane ticket is a lot of money, especially with four kids and two more on the way,” Chandler said.
Chandler has been deployed in Europe since February.
He was able to “earn” a plane ticket home through the Miles for Military organization. He “traded” doing volunteer hours at the USO and received a plane ticket in return.
Chandler said he is grateful for what Miles for Military does.
“Often, we are in places we never asked to be, away from family and we don’t have the financial resources to get back home,” he said.
Maureen Bryne said she founded Miles for Military a few years ago.
She said her son, who is a Marine, came home for Thanksgiving one year. She asked him how the other Marines got home for the holidays.
Her son said the other Marines couldn’t afford to go home for the holidays and he seemed to be the only one who could.
That started Byrne’s mind thinking and she came up with Miles for Military.
The nonprofit helps lower enlisted soldiers, with the paygrades of E1 through E4, “earn” a plane ticket by volunteering 25 or more hours at a charity of their choice.
“It’s an amazing win-win,” Byrne said. “The volunteer organizations and the people they serve are thrilled at the extra help. What these kids (service members) get through their volunteer work is better than the trip home.”
Byrne said that every dollar Miles for Military raises goes toward plane tickets for service members.
She said that what makes Miles for Military stand out is “we have them earn it and give back” to the community.
“I think that really makes the biggest difference,” she said.
Ashley Chandler, the wife of Spc. Chandler, said she is grateful for the help Miles for Military gave to her family in getting her husband home.
“There are many days when your husband, your spouse, is deployed, it feels like you have nobody,” Ashley Chandler said. “I have made friends (at Fort Bliss) but they have recently moved.
“It is a blessing to have an organization that is there if you have a death in the family, a birth in the family, an emergency,” she said. “We all need help at any time for anything.”
For information on Miles for Military, including how to donate, you can click here.
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