To a Generous and Grateful Nation, Thank You Published March 4, 2014 By Senior Master Sgt. Jose M. Gonzalez 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern)/A4M DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB, Ariz. -- More than a decade has elapsed since the U.S. deployed in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Since then I have gone on several deployments, I am still awestruck at the generosity of our countrymen and women. Each and every year our countrymen and women have never failed to send a taste of home in the form of care packages. The simple cardboard boxes should not be seen as mere containers filled with treats and toiletries. They are actually more than the sum of their contents. Those boxes are the physical manifestation of unconditional love and appreciation from countless organizations and individuals back home. These organizations encompass the full spectrum of America's diversity: men and women, young and senior, military veterans and civilians and others across countless divides. Following the arrival of a care package, take a moment to reflect on the hands and hearts which prepared the items. For America's love and adoration of the men and women serving in uniform has still not waned after all these years.