LTC (R) Alissa McKaig

LTC (R) Alissa McKaig sat down with me for Heroes I Know.

Elliot Bissell nominated her. They met at Fort Benning in their major days. The course was in Spanish. Instant friends.

Westmont, New Jersey. Right outside Philadelphia. Dad was full-time Delaware National Guard. Helicopter pilot. Mom is from Cuba. He met her in San Antonio. Then he left for Vietnam. She waited. They married and moved to New Jersey. Same house. Parents still there. Dad is losing memories. The one he still tells is how he met her.

Dance company. Flamenco. Modern. Sweden. France. High school track. Hurdles. High jump. Long jump. Most nights she was in dance. Dad and she made it snow from the rafters for The Nutcracker while her little sister danced below.

Sixth grade yearbook. What are you going to be. Helicopter pilot and a teacher. She has done both. The only thing she ever wanted in the Army was to fly. She requested Aviation. TH-67. OH-58 Alpha Charlie. Then Blackhawk. She made pilot in command in Iraq.

Battalion commander. Then retired. Youngest is six. She still does not put the laundry away. She wants work with flexibility. Aviation. Instruction. Something that keeps her close to those kids.

She lived with her grandmother in San Antonio getting her masters. All Spanish. She recorded the stories. They lost the tapes. Husband found them. That little piece of her voice. That is the whole point of this.

She hopes her kids see this and know how much she loved them. And the Army people who touched her life. She was successful because of them. I saluted her. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.