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(upbeat music)

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- So I think it was E-3 and below.

3
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If you wrote a 250-word narrative

4
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on what going home for the holidays meant

5
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for you and submitted it, the winner gets

6
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a free trip home for the holidays.

7
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I surprised my family.

8
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There's 16 of us, and we're cramped

9
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inside a little trailer.

10
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So I guess that's unique.

11
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But it was awesome surprising my family.

12
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They loved it, and I loved it.

13
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Being out here and not around your family

14
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all the time, it can get hard.

15
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So getting to go home and see them

16
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every now and again, it helps.

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(upbeat music)

18
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- When I went back home in December,

19
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^I helped them to rebuild my hometown.

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^Basically, the power lines and all that.

21
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^And there was a lot of trees on the road and all that.

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^We cleaned all that.

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^(upbeat music)

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^All my family, we spent Christmas together.

25
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We did some parties and all that, opened presents.

26
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Yeah, so it was nice.

27
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I just want to say thank you

28
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to the Whiteman Base Community Council,

29
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to the Whiteman family, because I get

30
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to go home and help my family.

31
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Puerto Rico is still in a bad condition.

32
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Hopefully, next year, it's going to get better.

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(upbeat music)

34
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- So I found out about it through my First Sergeant.

35
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I thought, I'm never going to win this,

36
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to be quite honest, but I gave it a shot.

37
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I got the trip back home.

38
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We ate a bunch of tamales.

39
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Breakfast, lunch, and dinner is tamales,

40
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and I spent it with my closest friends and my sisters.

41
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I have three little sisters and my parents.

42
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I would like to say thank you to all of them.

43
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It was a very nice thing they all did for airmen.

44
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I really needed it at the time.

45
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(upbeat music)

46
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- It was through my leadership,

47
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especially my supervisor, Sergeant Evans.

48
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He knew I was from Puerto Rico

49
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and there were two hurricanes that hit my home,

50
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one after the other, and that I had

51
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no communication with my family

52
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for like about three weeks.

53
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So they got a hold of this program,

54
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and they told me, hey, just make an essay explaining

55
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why you would like to go,

56
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and we will take care of the rest.

57
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And then I go, okay.

58
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So I went over New Year's Eve, and it was fun.

59
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I enjoyed time with my family and,

60
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yeah, it was kind of surreal.

61
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Places that I used to go, they're not there anymore,

62
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or are not exactly the same anymore.

63
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It was kind of bittersweet.

64
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I was home, but it was not what I remember.

65
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I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

66
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It actually helps, especially when there's something

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bad that's going on in your life,

68
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and spending time with people you love, it helps you.

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(upbeat music)

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- So I don't really get to see my family that much,

71
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because they live really far.

72
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They live in Florida, and it's kind

73
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of expensive sometimes, especially

74
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with airman's pay, to go see them a lot.

75
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And last year, I was in BMT for Christmas.

76
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So this was definitely a lot better than being at BMT.

77
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So it meant a lot for me that,

78
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this essay to get me home.

79
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On my holiday break, I went back to Florida.

80
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We always spend time on the beach for the holidays.

81
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So we got a resort.

82
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On Christmas Eve, we went out to eat,

83
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had a really good time, went to the beach,

84
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and then the next day, Christmas day,

85
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we have a tradition that we wear pajamas

86
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to the beach, and we take pictures in it.

87
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So we all had our themed PJs,

88
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and it was fun.

89
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And I saw family I hadn't seen in years.

90
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So it was really good seeing them.

91
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I want to say thank you so much

92
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for helping me get home for the holidays

93
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and selecting me for the essay winner.

94
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I greatly appreciate it,

95
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and I had a great time going home

96
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and creating memories with my family.

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So I want to thank you all so much.

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(upbeat music)