Butterfly Garden opens at Keesler to honor fallen soldiers

Air Force Families Forever at Keesler Air Force Base held an opening ceremony today for their Fallen Heroes Butterfly Garden.

People who have lost loved ones through war look for many ways to find peace from their tragedies. Today, the Air Force Families Forever Program at Keesler opened a brand-new butterfly garden to honor their fallen heroes.

This program was created to care for Air Force family members whose airmen have died while on active-duty status. Jane Green, the mother of an honored fallen hero, said, “To have them honored and to be able to come and participate with other people that feel the same way we do is really a pleasure and a joy.”

The opening ceremony began with a reading of all the soldier’s names honored at the garden. Then, the guests worked together to release about 1,000 butterflies out of their slips and into the garden. AFFF Coordinator Holly Fisher said, “So, through events like this, establishing this area, so anyone who visits can see the names of their loved ones. They know that their legacy will remain and will be kept alive.”

The butterfly garden gives families a sense of peace and tranquility that they once didn’t have. Diane Moore, the daughter of an honored fallen hero, said, “It’s a great place to come if you need to clear your mind or if I wanted to come on when my dad’s birthday is or certain occasions that otherwise I’d stay in the house and cry.”

The creation of the garden also provides education to the general population on the support the AFFF program offers the families. “There’s so many people out there that don’t realize the resources available to them and so it’s really important that we educate the population on what our program has to offer.”