Cup of courage

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Leo Brown
  • 442nd Fighter Wing public affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  It's not often you get to travel all over the country with one of your heroes. But that's what Master Sgt. Bob Jackson, a munitions craftsman with the 442nd Maintenance Squadron, is getting to do. 

Well, sort of.

Sergeant Jackson's picture is making a national tour, alongside a picture of one of his heroes, actor Jimmy Stewart, who retired as an Air Force Reserve brigadier general and who passed away in 1997.
 
General Stewart and Sergeant Jackson are featured on 10,000 32-ounce plastic cups being distributed to the 10 Air Force Reserve Command-owned bases around the country.

The cups recognize the Air Force Reserve's 60th birthday by linking current and past reservists, stressing that service before self is alive and well, and always has been.

In August 2003, Sergeant Jackson was helping dispose of 300,000 pounds of Iraqi munitions at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, when he noticed a smoking, 120-mm, white- phosphorous mortar shell.

According to the Airman's Medal citation he received later, Sergeant Jackson grabbed the 30-pound projectile, ran with it roughly 100 yards and dumped it in a pond, which extinguished the phosphorous and potentially saved his comrades' lives.

Sixty years earlier, Stewart began a string of 20 combat missions over Europe, piloting B-24 Liberators. He eventually received the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, The Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.

Sergeant Jackson said he admires the humility of Stewart's characters and he tries to make that a part of his own life.

The sergeant has been in the Air Force Reserve for more than 23 years, said two of his favorite Stewart movies are "It's a Wonderful Life," made in 1946, and 1954's "Rear Window."

"I think the cups are really cool, but it's kind of embarrassing," he said. "Jimmy Stewart is one of my favorite actors. He was always real calm and the roles he played were really significant.

"So many troops today are risking life and limb, and losing life and limb," Sergeant Jackson said. "They should have those guys on the cups. They're the ones who've paid dearly.

"I've always felt that we are 'one team-one fight'," he said. "No matter what branch you're in or what you do in the Air Force Reserve, we're all in this together. We have to look out for each other. Do your job right or don't do it at all."

According to Lt. Col. Bob Thompson, director of public affairs for AFRC at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., the idea of linking current and past reservists on cups started when Phyllis Link, the marketing manager of Services for AFRC, saw cups at a local sandwich shop sporting pictures of civilian fire fighters, honoring their work.

"She struck the fire that started all this," Colonel Thompson said. "She thought we should be able to do that with reservists."

Ms. Link's idea became a reality as she contacted Colonel Thompson and, eventually, representatives of several military agencies and Coca-Cola met and brought the idea to fruition.

"Coca-Cola was great to work with," Ms. Link said. "They invited us to their headquarters in Atlanta and we got together and brainstormed about what the cup should look like, and talked about the past and present idea."

Colonel Thompson said there was "a lot of consternation" about who would be pictured on the cup. The military and Coca-Cola brain trust looked at the Air Force Chief of Staff's "Portraits in Courage," a collection of stories about Airmen and their heroic acts, to help make the decision.

"It was a huge vetting process to make that cut," the colonel said. "You obviously have to be an outstanding and exceptional reservist to be our representative in that book and (Darren "Jake" Jacobson, a Coca-Cola representative) figured Sergeant Jackson was our role model."

"I thought the 'past and present' idea was brilliant," said Mr. Doug McAlister, the group director of world-wide military sales for Coca-Cola North America.

Mr. McAlister said this venture, which began in late 2007, is another example of cooperation between Coca-Cola and the military, a relationship that dates to the 1940s.

"We've had an emotional tie to the military since World War II when Robert Woodruff, the chairman of the Coca-Cola Company for most of the 20th century and (Gen. Dwight) Eisenhower were good friends," he said. "Ike said to him, 'I've got all these young soldiers here in Europe who would like a memory of home' and Mr. Woodruff said, 'We'll make sure that soldiers can buy Coke for a nickel and have a taste of home.' That was the start of our international business.

"I would like people to see or feel a connection with the Coca-Cola Company in that we are committed to the military and to the Air Force Reserve. It's more than just a buyer-seller relationship," said Mister McAlister, whose father was a World War II veteran.

"I hope people realize that Coca-Cola is a huge supporter and very appreciative of the military, especially in these difficult times of the Global War on Terrorism," he said.

Colonel Thompson, Ms. Link and Mr. McAlister noted that Mr. Jacobson, Coca-Cola's senior national account executive and export manager, was instrumental in this project.

"Jake works directly with Air Force Services," Mr. McAlister said. "He grew up in the military in Germany and he has a lot of emotional ties to this partnership. He has a tremendous passion for Coca-Cola and for the Air Force, so he tries to develop business plans with the Air Force and he's always looking for opportunities to do so."

"Jake is one of the best," Ms. Link said. "We've been working together for years and I called him to ask him what he thought about this idea. He was all over it."

The cups are available at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga.; Duke Field, Fla.; Grissom ARB, Ind.; Homestead ARB, Fla.; March ARB, Calif.; Minneapolis-St. Paul Air Reserve Station, Minn.; Niagara Falls ARS, N.Y.; Pittsburgh International Airport ARS, Pa.; Westover ARB, Mass.; and Youngstown ARS, Ohio.

"I feel like reservists don't get proper recognition sometimes," Ms. Link said. "So I hope the message that's sent with these cups is that we appreciate our reservists and honor them, and we don't want to forget that."

Sergeant Jackson, when asked what he thought Jimmy Stewart would say to him, knowing that they're both reservists, that they are together on the cups, replied, "He'd probably say, 'Why in the hell is someone so ugly on my cup?'

"Then he'd probably say, 'You know, nothing has changed throughout the years as far as dedication to our country,'" he added. ''Systems change. Politics change. Ideas change. But one thing that hasn't changed is the American drive to serve our country and keep it safe. That hasn't changed.''