SUWON AIR BASE, South Korea - Smiles lights up across the faces of the children as they try so hard to hide their excitement.
Their little eyes shimmer with joyful anticipation as the sound of footsteps and jingle bells grow closer. They hear the unmistakable chuckle. The room becomes still.
And behold, coming out of the stairway is the familiar white beard and red velvet suit. At last, Santa Clause has come to the House of Dreams Orphanage this Christmas, here at the city of Suwon, South Korea.
The real identity of House of Dreams Orphanage's Santa Clause is 1st Sgt. Michael Kern, of Headquarters Battery, 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, and with him were more than 30 Santa's little helpers, or volunteer Soldiers from the Iron Horse Battalion.
"We are bringing gifts to every single child in the orphanage this Christmas to make sure their Christmas wishes come true, whether they have been naughty or nice!" said Kern with a big smile on his face as the children lined up to meet him.
"They [children] could not sleep last night because they were so excited to finally meet Santa!" said Kim Ji-choon, principal of the House of Dreams Orphanage, which is the largest orphanage in Suwon. "To God I say Halleluja, and to 6-52nd ADA, I express our sincere gratitude."
"For months, we have been planning for the Secret Santa Project, and it all paid off when you see the expressions on these children's faces as they opened their gifts," Kern said.
"Last year, he [Santa] got me a pair of brown Uggboots, and this year I am getting a pink pair!" exclaimed happily, Song Min-ju, a little girl at the orphanage. "Pretty soon I will have a whole collection."
"Perhaps not a surprise, but our Soldiers are getting as much out o this as the children are," Kern said.
The sponsorship of the House of Dream Orphanage is just one of the many volunteer projects available to the Soldiers of the Iron Horse Battalion. After all, the unit is famous in the city of Suwon for its outstanding good neighbor programs which give back as much as the battalion has benefitted from the hospitality shown by the local community.
The Iron Horse Battalion regularly holds English class for the children of local Republic of Korea Airmen and also hosts an English conversation club with students from local universities.
Next month, the battalion will also be the first unit in the area to build an alliance with the local Korean police agency by providing English language training to the policemen.
As a testament to its excellent relationship with the local community, the battalion had the honor to be the only U.S. military unit to be invited by Suwon City Hall to participate in the popular Annual Historic Hwaseong Festival, during which Soldiers don traditional Korean costumes and parade in front of thousands of cheering locals.
In fact, Soldiers from Headquarters Battery alone were able to log a total of over five thousand volunteer hours since last year.
"I always encouraged my Soldiers to volunteer because I firmly believe that part of being a well-rounded Soldier is to give back to the community," Kern, said. "Not to mention, we have the obligation to act as ambassadors to promote a positive image of the United States.
Many would agree that Kern has more resemblance to the kind old man in red suit than mere appearance.
Kern, a 45 years-old air defense artillery Soldier and long-time resident of Fort Bliss, Texas, is no stranger to volunteering to make a difference in other's life. And when he came to the Republic of Korea with the Iron Horse Battalion almost two years ago, he brought a part of that legacy to his new home.
"While stationed at Fort Bliss, we used to volunteer to teach at a local elementary school and play sports with the children," Kern recalled. "And I thought to myself, it would be really awesome if we can do the same thing here."
Kern and other leaders from the unit took the initiative. One of the first volunteer projects Kern and the Soldiers started here in Korea was the Task Force Smith Battle Memorial Monument clean-up project.
"We were all sitting down and brainstorming one day, and the idea to adopt-a-landmark just came to me," Kern recalled. And now, the project has become a unit tradition.
And it did not stop there. Kern and his Soldiers participated in English classes, parades, cultural exchange programs and the House of Dreams Orphanage visits.
"I have been stationed in Korea on five separate occasions before in my career, but I can honestly say that this unit's high level of volunteer activities is unmatched anywhere else in Korea," said Kern.
However, it is very challenging to juggle between executing real world missions and volunteering, an opinion shared by Kern and many volunteers.
The 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, is the largest and most forwardly deployed Patriot unit in the U.S. Army today. The Iron Horse Battalion has the critical mission of defending key allied assets against the tactical ballistic missile threat from an extremely aggressive North Korean regime, as the recent increase in provocations testified.
"In the end, it is all about effective time management," Kern confessed. "Of course the mission is the priority, and after you have successfully accomplished the mission, you must still have the drive to continue to go out there and help out."
Kern continued, "It might mean that we have to sacrifice an extra hour or two of our personal time, but the reward afterward and the feeling of achievement are just indescribable."
Turning the spotlight back to the Suwon orphanage. Even as the temperature continues to drop and snow turns the whole city into a white wonderland, the love and laughter shared among Kern, the Soldiers and the children will certainly keep the House of Dreams Orphanage and the City of Suwon warm well into the new year.
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