B
IG BEAR CITY >> A Black Hawk military helicopter landed at Big Bear Airport Thursday to the delight of kids participating in what’s touted as the nation’s only summer camp for children of law enforcement officers, military service members and veterans.
The aircraft came in from Fort Irwin National Training Center in the Mojave Desert, according to Johnny McLaughlin, who founded Operation Kids Camp. The campers are staying at Upland-based Campfire’s Camp Nawakwa near Angelus Oaks.
Operation Kids Camp provides these children a community in which “they are not alone” dealing with the stresses of families confronting PTSD, anxiety and high stress brought on by serving in the line of duty, according to a camp news release.
“There is a generation of children living in our communities going through the experience of a parent serving in a high-risk profession, whether its multiple deployments to a warzone or the constant anxiety of not knowing if they will return from work that day,” McLaughlin said in the release. The camp helps build bonds of support, he said.