'Across the Generations' Serves Tulsa Military Families

Grant Sloan, News On 6

The city of Tulsa is doing its part to care for military families here on the home front. Today at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, families got to spend time with one another, and learn more about Oklahoma's rich military history. And it was all free.

It's part of the mayor's "Across the Generations" Initiative.

It's a long wait for a loved one to come home, nerve wracking for a military wife, to say the least.

But, if only for a second, wives and kids got to put those thoughts behind them.

"So that they can understand what their parents do, and so that they can pass it from one generation to the next," said Victoria Bartlett, Tulsa's First Lady.

Mayor Bartlett and his wife have been working with the "Across the Generations Initiative" to bridge the gap between young and old, hoping to ensure that the stories of Oklahoma's history aren't lost over time.

But the event took on a much deeper meaning than they imagined...

"There was a void that we were unaware of," Victoria Bartlett said.

Not living on a military base excludes many families of the 45th from social events that others are entitled to, so the City stepped in.

"Providing social opportunities for people in the military, that don't otherwise live on a base."

"It really means a lot," said Kathryn Lee, the wife of a National Guard soldier, "because as a National Guard, you really don't get all that."

Kathryn's husband, Anthony, is currently overseas leaving her to provide for their daughter and take care of the family farm.

"She's learned how to change the oil in the tractor, change the fan belt, fix fence, dig holes," Mayor Dewey Bartlett said.

The event gives Kathryn a chance to get away and let someone else take care of them for a while.

"Actually enjoy doing something, instead of just sitting at home waiting," Lee said.

"I like seeing her out doing things not a home worried, trying to clean everything or help everybody," Kathryn's daughter, Sky Payne, said.

And all the planetariums and fighter planes in the world don't hold a candle to what matters most to Kathryn.

"Seeing my daughter smile."

And having someone else who understands her struggle.

"It helps to actually see someone that you recognize, and you know that their spouse is over there too and they know what you're going through, because we're all a family, and he's my best friend."