John Fuller

John, Lindsay, Sarah & Stephanie

Senior Master Sergeant John R. Fuller

Photos from Baghdad

After graduation from high school I spent the next couple of years trying to figure out what I wanted to do in life. I finally decided that since my father and brother had served in the military in service of their country that I should at least do the same then figure out what I wanted to do in life.
I went to the USAF in 1979, stayed in for the initial 4 year enlistment and got out thinking that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. Five months after I got out I decided I wanted back in. Once militarized; civilian life wasn’t as easy of an adjustment as I thought.
I met Stefanie in 1983, was married in 1985, and began having children the next year; Lindsay in 86 and Sarah in 89. Became a Pressman for what was then Commercial Printing in Des Moines. The company changed names and became Downey Printing in Waukee. Since children put a strain on finances I went to the Air National Guard for additional income.
After moving a couple of times in Iowa, once from Osceola to Truro, then Truro to Winterset, we decided to migrate south; tired of shoveling out the driveway 5 months of the year. Moved this time to Spokane, MO; halfway between Springfield and Branson. Worked in newspapers; first in Springfield for the News-Leader and then for Community Publishers Inc. On 9/11/01 our lives changed forever.
Active duty took me from our dream to our nightmare. I was separated from the family in year one of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and decided to move them to Fort Smith, AR closer to where I was on duty. In the next couple of years I worked for the Times Record at night and for the Air Guard by day.
The kids loved the city life and did well in high school at Fort Smith Southside H.S.
They excelled in volleyball garnering three state championship rings between the two of them. Lindsay in 04 had one with a school best record of 34-1; Sarah in 05 and again in 07. Both went on to play at Hendrix College. Lindsay went on to become the all time scoring leader at Hendrix and Sarah played two seasons for the Warriors then gave up the sport to focus on academics.
Lindsay now lives in Springfield with her boyfriend Steve and works for Tracker Marine as a loan officer. Stefanie settled in as a sales associate for JC Penney and has been the jewelry dept’s top sales person in the region for five years running. Sarah is planning on moving to Topeka, KS this summer to continue her education at Washburn Univ. She says she misses v-ball and may walk on to continue her game.
After 6+ years here, I’ve been deployed to the GWOT 3 different times in the last 5 years. First to Manas Air Base near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, next to Ali Al Salem Air Base near Kuwait City, Kuwait and finally on to Baghdad, Iraq.
We’re back together in Ft Smith now, have Sarah back for the spring semester at UA Ft Smith and I retire April 5th from the USAF/ANG with 30 years, 3 months and 26 days.
Our current plans are to go back to the Springfield area and pick up where we left off when all hell broke loose that beautiful fall morning in September 2001.
Still don’t know what I’ll do when I grow up only hope I have as many adventures and great experiences as we’ve had so far.