Sending gratitude into the wild blue yonder

It's all in the family for the Stephens clan. From Dad to the kids to brothers and nephews, the family has had a longtime commitment to serving our country in the military. But the generosity of one local business says it all for something the Stephenses seem to take in stride.

Kalispell residents Bob and Candy Stephens' recent letter to the Inter Lake began, "A wonderful thing happened Saturday." The Stephens had stopped at M and S Meats in Rollins that day to pick up some jerky to ship to their sons overseas.

Their son, Gary, is a captain who's been in the Montana Air National Guard since 1993. Before that, he was in the Air Force for several years and has spent the past five months in Balad, Iraq, working as a maintenance officer for the F-16 fighter jets.

Their son-in-law, Scott Sauter, is a technical sergeant with the Air Force who's a maintenance manager stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan, teaching the Afghans how to maintain their own equipment for their new air force.

Lucy Carlson, who owns M and S Meats with her husband, Sonny, was behind the counter when the Stephenses came and, upon hearing they were planning to send some Made in Montana elk, buffalo and turkey jerky to their sons, she said, "Military? I'll give you 10 percent off for this."

Sonny Carlson says the business has been offering a discount on all packages they ship to the military since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. "We just feel it's something we owe to our service people."

Lucy also gave the Stephenses boxes and the paperwork to ship them overseas. After they thanked her and were about to leave, Carlson said, "Just a minute. We can't do enough for our guys serving over there." She then handed them two more packages of jerky and added, "This way, they won't have to share as much."

The Stephenses were speechless. She had just given them most of the profit she would have made from the sale.

Military tradition runs rich in the Stephens family. Not only do their sons have military careers, but also their daughter, Gennifer, is a noncommissioned officer of financing at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska, and recently was named Officer of the Year. She was stationed in Iraq for six months last year, and no sooner did she return then her husband, Scott, was shipped out.

Another feather in the family's cap is that Gary was just named Junior Officer of the Year for 2005-06 for the Montana Air National Guard. Like his sister, he's married, and between them they have five children.

Dad, a native of Great Falls, served in the Montana Air National Guard for six years. Last year he was honored for his heroism for risking his life during an on-duty rescue attempt more than 40 years ago. Both of his brothers were also in the Guard.

Of the Carlson's generosity, the Stephenses said, "How heartwarming! We want to express our thanks for your thoughtfulness and support of our service people and let everyone know how much we appreciate you."

As a side note, the Stephenses suggest that anyone planning to send military packages should address them to specific individuals, not just APO addresses. Otherwise, the shipments may be delayed, rerouted and possibly even undelivered.