Alan Meisfelt
My husband Alan is a hero because he has devoted his entire life to helping those less fortunate.
Alan’s mother died when he was very young, and his father was not interested in the responsibility of raising a child, so he was shuffled from one reluctant family member’s home to the next while growing up. Always feeling like an outsider, Alan joined the military as soon as he was old enough, and spent most of the next ten years overseas.
His tours in the Philippines and South America introduced him to the very real poverty that so much of the world lives under. Alan spent a lot of his free time volunteering to build homes and schools in the local areas, and using the skills the military had taught him as a medical technician to treat minor injuries and teach people basic hygiene and health care. He was appalled to see the nurses in one hospital re-using syringes on their patients, because they did not have enough of them to be able to dispose of them after each use.
A year after we were married, Alan was injured in an accident on duty, and was unable to continue his military career. Though he fought it all the way to the top, he was discharged with a disability. Alan felt that he was still very capable of giving something to the world, so we volunteered with a non-profit charitable group that travels to Mexico and Central America to provide health care to isolated communities.
For the last nine years we have spent several months at a time volunteering, and we both feel that we have helped make a difference in the lives of so many who are less fortunate than ourselves. When we are back at home in the United States, Alan speaks to community organizations and church groups, urging them to help collect used eyeglasses, medical supplies, and other things we can use in our work. When we have accumulated enough, we load it all into our motorhome and the 24 foot trailer we tow behind it, and off we go again south of the border to deliver it.
The military felt that Alan was not capable of serving any longer, but they did not know my husband! I have seen him on his feet for ten to twelve hours a day helping doctors treat patients, or building houses, medical clinics, and schools to make the world a better place to live in for people who otherwise would never have it. That’s why Alan is my hero.
Submitted by Sandi Meisfelt
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