NCO earns Spirit of Hope Award

  • Published
  • By G. A. Volb
  • Air Force Weather Agency Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AFPN) --  The late Bob Hope recognized devotion to duty, loyalty and courage for decades by visiting service members on the front lines -- typically arriving with an entourage of popular pin-ups, actors, musicians and comedians.

The USO inspired and Wiegand Foundation sponsored Spirit of Hope Award is presented to those epitomizing honor, integrity and selfless dedication to ensure similar values continue to be recognized.

These are just the sort of attributes Air Force Weather Agency Master Sgt. Lou Pell was recognized for Nov. 19 at the Pentagon -- as a winner of the 2006 Spirit of Hope Award.
In the past year alone, Sergeant Pell helped with four blood drives, took part in a youth literacy program, highway cleanups, served as a Salvation Army representative, sang Christmas carols at retirement homes and assisted in raising funds for both the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Boomer Esiason Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis. The latter two raised some $190,000 dollars.

His initial interest in Cystic Fibrosis, stemmed from a co-worker and personal friend whose son had the disease.

"I know what my friend and his son have gone through to live with Cystic Fibrosis," said the 44-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio. "I saw this as a way of indirectly helping his son. As for Muscular Dystrophy, I just answered a call for help during one of their fundraising events and I was very moved by the people I met. Their resilience is inspiring."

Sergeant Pell said it's really not about him as much as it is giving back to the community. 

"I think we have an obligation to make a positive impact on our community, and when there are people who need help, we should be there for them. Plus, I've easily got more out of it than I've put into it," he said.

According to him, he sees every event as rewarding, getting his biggest kick out of working with senior citizens.

"Being in the military, I'm not there to help my parents the way I would like," said Sergeant Pell, AFWA's training branch NCO in charge. "So, by helping the senior community in this area I feel an attachment to my folks; like maybe if I'm helping someone here, someone else is helping my parents."

In 2006, Sergeant Pell was involved in a myriad of Air Force related ceremonies and fundraisers and totaled more than 350 hours of community service, including with the Humane Society. 

"Lou is a dog walker for us," said Sally Zachary, vice president of community outreach for Nebraska's Humane Society. "He spends hours walking and training the dogs to keep them happy and healthy for prospective adopters. I know it might not sound terribly important but to the dogs, there's no one more important. They live in kennel runs and depend on the volunteers to take them into the fresh air, love them and keep them happy."

"There are so many people here and in the local community who give their time and energy to help others," Sergeant Pell said. "And most of them do it without the recognition that this award is affording me. To me it's akin to an iceberg; much of it is hidden beneath the surface and, for this moment in time, I've been given the honor of serving as the tip of that iceberg."

His efforts have been anything but unnoticed by his office though.

"Our mission can be broken into two major components," said Capt. Mike Horner, AFWA chief of training. "That's taking care of processes and taking care of people. Lou excels at ensuring the processes are flawless, but it's the taking care of his people part where he really shines. No one can match Lou's dedication, patriotism or loyalty to the Air Force way of life and the community - he's simply in a category all by himself."

It's a category he shares with previous award winners such as President George H. W. Bush, John Glenn, Rudy Giuliani and Walter Cronkite.

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