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about his own experience with the USO, and he recounts an injury he suffered while on a deployment – an injury that forced an early return home. The USO, he said, was by his side all along the way, with volunteers greeting him at the air- port in Maryland. "It was awesome, especially getting from point A to point B." The conver- sations about his family, the queries about his condition, the phone cards he received from the USO – he said they were all unforgettable acts of kindness. All military, all the time The modern USO is hyper-focused on military families rather than the community at large, as was the trend in earlier years. "That means we serve them 110 percent," Lane said. "We don't have to worry about keeping up a roller rink or a dance hall or meeting place or anything like that." She hands me three pages listing more than two doz- en USO-sponsored programs. There's the sending of care packages to troops overseas. There's the delivering of birth- day cakes to single soldiers. There's the United Through Reading program, let- ting deployed parents read storybooks to their children on video. There's the Families of the Fallen program, which provides assistance to families trave- ling to and from Dover Air Force Base. When a service member dies in combat, the USO makes sure the family has pri- ority boarding and is accompanied to the gates by USO volunteers. The local USO is a non-profit organi- zation that gets no funding from the na- tional USO or the federal government. Its operating money comes from dona- tions, corporate sponsorships, grants and fundraisers. "To liſt spirits and pro- vide comfort for service members and family in peacetime and war time, that's a very important mission for us," Lane said. "We don't see an end in sight." At home with the USO The USO centers on Fort Bragg and at the Fayetteville airport exude hos- pitality and practicality and even per- sonality – thanks in no small measure to the older veterans who volunteer to serve this new generation of warriors. The gray-haired servants have spent a lifetime perfecting the art of talking and telling stories. They can keep the conversation and the coffee flowing. As for me, looking around such an inviting place, I'm inclined to put a deep inden- tation in the cushioned seats and finesse the fine art of just hanging out. It's not home sweet home, exactly, but it comes close. It's the USO. CV New You Emerge! Let The AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY AT: 512 North McPherson Church Rd Fayetteville, NC 28303 (910) 860-2629 For information on other great Max Muscle products visit maxmuscle.com CityViewNC.com | 51

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