Servicemembers protect our country and our freedom. But one duty that is sometimes overlooked is when they volunteer in surrounding communities.

Airmen from the 62nd Aerial Port Squadron at McChord Field spent June 6 volunteering at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville. More than 20 Airmen dressed in civilian clothing conducted beautification work including removing invasive blackberry bushes at the conservation center, planting trees and more.

There was a sense of camaraderie that was not just associated with the military. It was about working together in an area that means a lot to families in the area.

Staff Sgt. James Lee knows this firsthand.

Lee, who returned in February from a deployment to Kyrgyzstan (a nation located in Central Asia), visited Northwest Trek with his 3-year-old son, Elijah. During the free-roam tram ride, Elijah looked on in amazement. It inspired Lee, who has spent seven years in the Air Force and came to McChord Field in 2008, to take it to another level.

"I thought to myself, ‘I want to do some work around here,'" he said.  

This was the father and son's third trip out to the park as volunteer members.

Ashley Smith, 25, said the beautification project was the type of work she enjoys doing, adding that she does about five or six volunteer projects per year. The most recent was a cemetery cleanup.

"I just think what the (Wildlife Park) is doing out here is pretty awesome," she said.

The volunteer partnership isn't the only relationship the base has with Northwest Trek. The wildlife park, in partnership with JBLM biologists, Point Defiance Zoo, The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and other Northwest zoos and agencies, is a leader of the repopulation of the endangered Oregon spotted frog, according to park officials.

Later in the afternoon, the group took a trail out to the mitigation and conservation site, where the volunteers began cleaning out invasive species like blackberry bushes and began planting native trees.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Prowant of Ansonia, Ohio, said he was eager to do something outside. It was his first time out to Northwest Trek.

"It's not just about deployment," Prowant said. "This shows the positive side of the military."

The cleaning party reflected the Airmen's interests in investing their personal time back into a family centered area in the Pacific Northwest. Lee, a Graham resident, said he enjoys rural areas like Eatonville where the park is located.

For many of these Airmen, the event was about putting back into a place that has given them and their children positive memories.

"We're always leaving and coming back," Lee said. "It's important to make it home."