For those of you reading this for the first time...Welcome. The Paddling for a Purpose Project started through the inspiration and efforts of Steve Claxton, Community Schools Coordinator for Swain County Schools. His project, "Bike Across America" had similar goals. Through his vision, I have decided to embark on a similar project. Both of these projects primary goal is to raise funds to create scholarships through the Swain County Schools Foundation. His is in honor of his mother, Phyllis Claxton. This project is in honor of my father, Keete L. Hester, a veteran of the Air Force, as well as a career public school teacher.
Paddling for a Purpose is my effort to raise scholarship funds through an 1,100 mile solo paddling expedition from Bryson City, NC to Mobile, AL. I'll launch in mid June 2009 and 30 days later end my journey in the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay. This project has 2 simple goals.
- Establish a scholarship in my father's name for Swain County students to pursue degrees in education, or engineering.
- Honor the contributions of my father to his family, his country and his professions.
Please take time to read earlier posts and give your support through your donation and/or comments. All support is greatly appreciated. One of the great aspects of this is that 100% of the funds donated will go directly to Swain County Schools Foundation and student scholarships.
This post is dedicated to our veterans. I created the slide-show above from family photos to outline my father as a veteran and his life of service. Starting with photos of him as a Naval Academy Midshipman, class of 1952, the slides show his career as an Air Force Officer and later as a High School JROTC Commander. The Naval Academy, Class of 52, had a couple famous members that you may know. James Lovell, commander of Apollo 13 fame, as well as Thomas Stafford of Apollo 10 were fellow classmates of his. After his Naval Academy days, he entered the Air Force and started his flight training. His flight school photos depict his early flight training days in Mississippi and time spent serving as part of the Atlas Missile Defense team. Next are photos of him with his SC-47, a Long Range Recovery Squadron based in Libya. Those are followed by a video image from his time in Vietnam as a FAC, or Forward Air Controller. This film was taken by him of a fellow FAC. The final photos are of his time as a JROTC teacher and his squadron. To him, education was paramount. A graduate of the Naval Academy and earning master degrees in aerospace engineering and mathematics education, he believed in the public school system and served it well. He finished his teaching career in Louisiana teaching high school math.
Please take time to honor, remember and acknowledge the sacrifices our veterans, and their families, have made to serve us. My father spent his life in service to his family, his community and his country. On Tuesday, we all get the opportunity to honor their service to us and say "Thanks".
For more information on FAC's, please read the earlier posts. Most people have no idea of the role they served in Vietnam, or the challenges and dangers they faced for their country. Their stories are simply amazing.
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