Navy Vet Receives Home from Operation Homefront and Chase
Operation Homefront and
Chase were honored to provide a mortgage-free home to Navy veteran Aaron Friedlander, and his family, recently as part of the
Homes on the Homefront program. Their home will return them to Georgia which puts them back in their home state and closer to family.
Read more about Aaron Friedlander and his honorable service to our country:Caring for people is something that Aaron Friedlander was born to do. In order to pursue his passion, Aaron enlisted in the Navy in 2003 after graduating high school. This led to an amazing career, providing vital medical support in the field for our troops, local citizens, and even humanitarian work in impoverished countries.
After growing up in Georgia, Aaron soon found himself stationed at a naval hospital on the other side of the country in California. While he was here, he was able to start his medical career by treating the troops coming home after harrowing tours abroad. Aaron took pride in his work knowing it was important for the war effort, but after seeing his friends come back injured from fighting, the fire was lit in him to go out and do more.
If Aaron was going to serve alongside other troops on the battlefield, he was going to need some more training. This drove him to volunteer for a humanitarian effort working on a hospital ship. Over the next six months, Aaron found himself traveling throughout the Caribbean and South America treating the local populations in over thirteen countries. This mission was providing the field training that he needed, but it also put his efforts into perspective.
One story was how a woman walked over 300 miles from her local village to receive medical attention for a tumor in her stomach. This was quite a humbling experience as Aaron was able to treat her, and then have everyone chip in to fly her back home once she was better. He was really making a difference in people’s lives that would otherwise not have had the chance, and this is what got him into this practice in the first place. While grateful for this experience, Aaron knew where he had to go next, fight for his country in the Middle East.
Returning back to California was much needed as he was able to spend some time with his wife, Kindle, and his two children, Kiara and Jeremiah. The reunion was short lived as Aaron soon received orders to be deployed over to Afghanistan. This is what he was always working towards, but leaving behind his family, especially when his son was just two months old, made this deployment especially difficult.
Aaron served with the Marines in the 1st Medical Battalion at the closest outpost to Pakistan. His medical knowledge as well as the newly developed Mobile Trauma Bay was vital for the mission he was called for, taking over a Taliban stronghold. Only supposed to take fourteen days, the surge dragged on to forty. Aaron’s effort ensured the survival of every member of his troop during the mission, even after one mass casualty event when three marines were severely injured from an IED explosion. Treating troops was the top priority, but Aaron also needed to utilize his humanitarian skills as he took part in treating the local citizens who were just casualties of war.
Aaron risked life and limb to do what he believed in, but after spending a career taking care of others, he wanted to be there to take care of his family. Once his tour of duty was up, he returned to California and soon moved his wife and children back to their home state of Georgia. With both sides of their family in the area, this truly felt like home. After a service of eight years, and still working with the Navy Reserves, home is something this honorable veteran truly deserves and Operation Homefront is honored to be a part of making their dream a reality.