Alexys Smith

English 2010
September 26, 2015

Ricky Smith

On January 10, 1973, Ricky Neal Smith was born. From a young age, Ricky

would play soldier with his brother and friends. He would tell his mother that some
day he would be one, and fly in the helicopters that flew over their home. By the
time he was about 10, it was clear to everyone in his family that he wanted to

become a soldier. As he grew older his childhood dream would not leave him, and
Ricky Smith joined the National Guard at the age of 18.

As Ricky began his new life as a soldier, he worked hard and started working

his way up the ranks. He soon met his wife Carrie Heiner. They married July 29,1994

and would have their first child in 1995 (thats me). In 1998 he moved his family to
Alabama to go to flight school. He returned home in 2000 as an AH-64 (Apache

helicopter) pilot. As the years passed, he continued to move up in rank. By 1997

Ricky was the proud parent of two children and by 2001 he was preparing for his

first deployment to Kuwait. On Sept. 11, 2001, although not in the United States, he

experienced the effects of the Twin Tower attacks in New York. The base went from
not being a combat zone, to being stockpiled with weapons over night. He would go
on to deploy two more times, both to Afghanistan. After many years of working

hard for our country and others he is currently at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and
is the ASF Commander and Battalion Commander for the 1-211 AH-64D Unit.

Being deployed three times, once to Kuwait and twice to Afghanistan, he has

experienced seeing people living in extreme poverty. During deployments, not only
do the soldiers perform the missions given to them, but often they often perform

humanitarian missions. Ricky came to the aid of many woman, children, and men in

extreme poverty. Whether it was just bringing them food and clean water or getting
them into the military hospital for various reasons they would help any way they
could.

While in Afghanistan Ricky Smith witnessed poverty at its worst, the amount

of people in need of help was immense. The hospital on the military base was
opened to the Afghanis, and the amount of people who needed medical help

because they could not afford it or it wasnt available was huge. People would wait

sometimes for three days to receive aid. At times this was for basic medical
attention and other times major medical procedures were needed.

Some of the most common humanitarian missions they would perform were

as simple as bringing clean water and food into the villages. Ricky said that they

would be so happy to receive even the smallest amount of food and water, and the

childrens eyes would light up. The children were so appreciative to receive a pack
of crayons or paper, as these were not readily available.

In America 46.7 million people live in poverty. In Afghanistan 42% of their

entire population live below the poverty line, while 20% live barely about the

poverty line. There is opportunity to change, but it will take a lot of time, effort, and
resources. As a society, if every person participated in doing what he or she can,

whether a little or a lot, it would be an awesome first step in ending poverty. Change
wont occur by itself. Humanity needs to band together in this fight.
Sources:

www.feedingamerica.org
www.ruralpovertyportal.org