We at the LUV airline are a patriotic bunch. We LUV our country; we give America the Freedom to fly; and we support our troops who fight for our country's many freedoms.
One way we express our LUV is by encouraging our Employees to wear red shirts on Fridays to show our support for the troops. In addition, our Internal Customer Care Team (this year's Heroes of the Heart!) sends LUV packages to all of our Employees or immediate family members who are called for military service. Many times, individual departments also keep in touch with Employees who have been called for military duty.
The attached photos show several of our Southwest Airlines Family Members who are currently serving overseas. 
Mike Clanton is the husband of my friend, Tina, who works as a Recruiter in the People & Leadership Development Department. Mike is in the Marine Corps Reserves and has been serving in northwest Iraq, near the Syrian border, since early November. 
Several departments have 'adopted' Mike during his deployment, and have sent goodies for him, as well as backpacks, school supplies and shoes for 
Iraqi children.
Another friend of mine who is currently serving overseas is a SWA Finance Department Employee named Charles Kitowski. 
His girlfriend, Berri, also a Southwest Employee, works in our Flight Operations Department as a Crew Accommodations Specialist. Charles left in January for Afghanistan and will be there until November. Here are a few photos that he sent to us recently. If you look closely at the photo titled "My Room," 
the photo in the calendar on his wall is of Charles and Berri from our trip to Seattle in August to pick up a new 737 (see Sunny's blog, "Can We Bottle That Smell?")
Another great story came to us from Bernadette Maldonado, a Baltimore-based Flight Attendant, 
who was also deployed to Afghanistan in January of this year. Shortly after arriving, she met Bill Mountcastle, another SWA Employee, who works as a BWI-based Pilot! 
They had not met each other before, but both found comfort in the fact that they had a Fellow SWA Employee serving alongside them! Attached are some photos that Bernadette sent to her friends at home.
I'm so grateful to all of these folks for serving our country, and I'm proud to call them my friends. It makes my heart happy to know that even though they are far away from home, they can feel the LUV we're sending their way.
Mike Clanton is the husband of my friend, Tina, who works as a Recruiter in the People & Leadership Development Department. Mike is in the Marine Corps Reserves and has been serving in northwest Iraq, near the Syrian border, since early November. 
Several departments have 'adopted' Mike during his deployment, and have sent goodies for him, as well as backpacks, school supplies and shoes for 
Iraqi children.
Another friend of mine who is currently serving overseas is a SWA Finance Department Employee named Charles Kitowski. 
His girlfriend, Berri, also a Southwest Employee, works in our Flight Operations Department as a Crew Accommodations Specialist. Charles left in January for Afghanistan and will be there until November. Here are a few photos that he sent to us recently. If you look closely at the photo titled "My Room," 
the photo in the calendar on his wall is of Charles and Berri from our trip to Seattle in August to pick up a new 737 (see Sunny's blog, "Can We Bottle That Smell?")
Another great story came to us from Bernadette Maldonado, a Baltimore-based Flight Attendant, 
who was also deployed to Afghanistan in January of this year. Shortly after arriving, she met Bill Mountcastle, another SWA Employee, who works as a BWI-based Pilot! 
They had not met each other before, but both found comfort in the fact that they had a Fellow SWA Employee serving alongside them! Attached are some photos that Bernadette sent to her friends at home.
I'm so grateful to all of these folks for serving our country, and I'm proud to call them my friends. It makes my heart happy to know that even though they are far away from home, they can feel the LUV we're sending their way.
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