I’ve seen the sacrifices of war, the uncertainty, trepidation, loneliness, and longing for a loved one to return home from battle and felt the bitter pain of losing a hero soldier.

My father served in United States Navy in World War II, my two eldest brothers served in the Vietnam War at the same time, and my third brother served in the US Navy aboard the USS Nimitz supercarrier that left port in Norfolk, VA on January 2, 1989 and did not return to land until June 30 after an attempt to free the hostages in Iran.

I can’t imagine many of us remembering much about being six years old, but I do, one horrible Christmas morning in 1965 when I heard the shrieks of the pain caused by death of war.

That day, my cousin, United States Marine Pfc. Carl Robert Steffen was a casualty of the Vietnam War, only 18 years old and it devastated my entire family for a long time and his immediate family members never recovered.

That is real pain felt by all those who lose a patriot in battle and it is magnified for a child of one of those soldiers killed in a foreign land that never see their mother or father alive again as they try to navigate life without them.

Those children are in our midst and they need us and there are patriots at home that have stepped in the gap like A Soldiers Child Foundation (ASC), founded by US Navy veteran Daryl Mackin in 2008 to honor Lewisburg native, Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski who was killed in Iraq and left behind a son, Christian Golczynski.

Over the past 11 years the foundation has done tremendous work, helping hundreds of the children of the fallen in many ways such as birthday celebrations, mentorship programs, a variety of camps, scholarships, brand new cars, and much more.

“We have to recognize what we have as free Americans, 99 percent of us do not defend the freedoms that we get to live out, one percent does that and when they don’t come home their children suffer for it,” Mackin said.

One of the events that is tops on many of the kids’ list are the hunting and fishing camps that is locally sponsored by a large group of outdoorsmen in the Chapel Hill area.

And none of that would be a reality if not for one of our local patriots that felt the tug of the heart and had to help.

Forrest and The Citadel graduate David Delk, Senior Vice President of the First Commerce Bank in Chapel Hill and a six-year veteran of the Tennessee Army National Guard became interested in the ASC and made an infamous phone call six years ago to Macklin that was a game changer for the organization and the children.

“He’s a community patriot, he cares about kids,” Mackin said. “David has a family, I have a family, most of these guys have families and we recognize that we have our families because of those who signed the contract.”

After speaking with Macklin and then attending the ASC’s yearly banquet that year Delk was hooked, knowing this was the cause for him and it also hit home as Delk was boyhood friends with Staff Sgt. Golczynski and was a student in Golczynski’s mothers’ (Dr. Elaine Huffines) science class at Forrest.

Known as a veteran outdoorsman, Delk became interested in the hunting camp that was in its infancy and after some discussion, Macklin handed off the entire hunting and fishing program to Delk and he hit the ground running.

“I really feel that when he found out about the ASC, a doorbell went off in his heart, and it was pinging,” Mackin said. “He saw here is something I can put my energy in to and when he saw how I needed help in the hunting program he was all in.”

“So many people have good intentions, but good intentions die right there if you don’t do something, unless you have that type of drive, nothing is going to get done.”

Anyone who knows David Delk understands his passion and drive in everything he does and in turn, because of that passion and the trust people have in him, a bevy of Chapel Hill men and women followed his lead in creating the hunting and fishing camps as they are today.

“David is a leader in the community, he is respected, he’s fun, and he knows a lot of people,” Mackin said. “He is welcoming and easily approachable and will lend a hand to everybody and that’s obvious, everybody knows that.”

“Once he jumped in he was all in and now he has become one of my personal best friends.”

Some of those people involved in the hunting and fishing program are Philip Manners, Bo Klaren, Tyler Klaren, David “Commodore” Penrod, Trey Lawrence, Will Holton, Steve Luca, Carla Luca, Sam Luca, Scott Delk, Bengi Gilliam, Ed Sweeney, Chris Brown, TWRA officer Hayden Cook, Justin Russell, Lee Cothran, Terry Lampey, Jerry Rzemieniewski, Lucas Welch, and Austin Harber, who all followed Delk’s lead as patriot volunteers from Chapel Hill and the programs have grown beyond leaps and bounds.

“What makes these people from Chapel Hill different, I don’t know if it’s their connection with the Golczynskis and Miss Huffines, but they own this and because David owned the hunting program, they were all on board,” Mackin said. “That’s the way it’s been and now we hunt turkey, quail, squirrel, and white tail deer, and kids come from all over the country come to participate.”

“Chapel Hill is a small knit community where people look out for each other and I think this is just an extension of that because they recognize what we have as free Americans.”

Delk, along with First Commerce’s Jimmy Bass, also coordinates the Lion’s Club Golf Tournament with the ASC as one of its major charitable beneficiaries and the Battle Run Obstacle Course, both at Henry Horton State Park.

Delk recently became a member of the ASC Advisory Board and is on the Annual ASC Golf Scramble Committee.

In September, Delk organized an ASC four-day camp in Charleston, SC where 20 kids participated and they visited The Citadel, went to a football game, met the basketball team, and slept overnight for three days on the USS Yorktown.

“It’s not just him, it’s his wife Larissa too, when we went to The Citadel she came and was a mentor over the girls,” Mackin said. “Dean has been involved, his mother has been involved, his sister has been involved, his brother has been involved, and it’s just been a Delk family affair.”

Delk has also been mentoring Lewisburg’s Jay Howard, a 2016 MCHS graduate, Citadel honor student, redshirt sophomore and starting cornerback on the football team.

“David is a man of integrity and I say that because he went out of his way to make me feel as if I was family from the day I committed to The Citadel, he could build a relationship with a wall, he is such a fun and idolizing figure to be around.” Howard said. “He took the values and morals that The Citadel has and ran with it, he gives everyone he is around positive energy and you can feel his presence when he is in attendance.”

“He is a great guy and I’ll do anything for that man, just like he would for me.”

The ASC has gone from a budget of $200 in it’s infancy to an organization that has 1.3 million dollar budget and many corporate sponsors.

“Our motto is to love the child, honor the fallen, and give them hope and I believe we are changing the trajectory of these kid’s lives, we are a lifeline to these children.” Mackin said. “It’s a heavy burden and I need help, I need so many more Davids in my life.”

“These are the most important children in our nation, the children of our fallen American defenders of freedom are our national treasure and I believe the guys that David has brought in see that, and they see the responsibility, so they are all kind of like surrogate uncles and parents to a lot of these kids.”