JACKSON, Miss. – Soldiers in the Mississippi Army National Guard’s Recruit Sustainment Program (RSP) took the fight to a new battlefield on July 9, 2016, when they engaged with patients at Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital.
The RSP is a program that helps to prepare and educate Soldiers on the realities of basic training and helps to instill the seven Army Values.
Soldiers were able to embody the Army Values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage while encouraging the young patients at the hospital to keep fighting.
The Soldiers visited three floors of the children’s hospital and laughed and played with the patients. They participated in games, painted pictures, read books, and gave out prizes.
Spc. Jonita S. Cooper said she enjoyed her interaction with the kids.
“I had a good time! The kids are fun to play with and you can’t tell anything is wrong with them. They just looked like they enjoyed having company with them,” she said.
When speaking with the patients, the Soldiers seemed more touched about what they were doing than the kids and the families.
Spc. Shekinah N. Guy said she “had a really good time interacting with the children. It really made them feel like someone really cared to come out, and take the time to play games with them. This was my first time coming in my uniform to volunteer. I’ve done it outside of my uniform as a civilian, but this was a really good experience and I hope we come back and do this again.”
The RSP recruiters are looking forward to taking future troops to volunteer at numerous places throughout the city, but they said the one place they will always be looking forward to visiting again would be Blair E. Batson’s Children Hospital.
Date Taken: | 07.09.2016 |
Date Posted: | 07.10.2016 17:56 |
Story ID: | 203533 |
Location: | JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, US |
Hometown: | JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, US |
Web Views: | 60 |
Downloads: | 1 |
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