Oklahomans are a generous people well known for their willingness to give back to their communities.  Last week I had the pleasure of observing this generosity first hand when I joined literally hundreds of volunteers in Lawton to help a family in need.  It was a heart-warming experience that reinforced my pride in Oklahoma and my faith in our people.

In April of 2004, a mortar at an American mess hall in Baghdad, Iraq hit SFC Gene Westbrook leaving him paralyzed. Then last year, the family was involved in a car accident that left their nine-year-old son, James, paralyzed and caused internal injuries to their daughter, who later lost a kidney.  The day after the accident Gene suffered a stroke, leaving him with further damage to his right arm and some loss of memory.  Thankfully his wife, Peggy, made a quick recovery to take on the overwhelming task of rehabilitating her husband and son while raising the rest of the family.  Extreme Home Makeover received word of this family's story and chose to make Lawton the site of one of their shows.

I was honored to have the opportunity to share in this incredible experience.  When I arrived at the site, I expected to see many workers coming together to build this house for this family.  What I saw was so much more.  I saw an outpouring of volunteers from the community joining together to give this family a better life.  I saw competitors coming together as a team.  I saw neighbors selflessly donating their yards, their roofs, and their homes to accommodate the volunteers.  I saw the fundamental decency and generosity of our follow Oklahomans.

In a time when our nation is at war and we face many difficult challenges, it is important to remember the fundamental goodness of the American people and their inherent tendencies toward charity and generosity.  What I observed in Lawton last week was extraordinary only in its routineness.  Every day across America we see similar examples of neighbor helping neighbor and communities rallying around one of their own in need of a helping hand.

Tom McCall, the late governor of Oregon, once said, "Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky.  They are people who say, "This is my community and it's my responsibility to make it better."  As I head back to Washington this week, I will remember the Westbrook family and the heroic spirit of the volunteers who gave of themselves to give this family a place they could call home.

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