A book for baby: Tanker pilot turns children's book author

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Meredith A.H. Thomas
  • 916th Public Affairs Office
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Just as Santa Claus depends on his sleigh and eight reindeer to deliver Christmas joy to children around the world, so do the pilots of the 916th Air Refueling Wing here rely on their KC-135R Stratotankers to provide global mission mobility.

It's this symbiotic relationship between man and machine that is at the heart of a new series of children's books written by one of the 77th Air Refueling Squadron's own, Maj. Johnathan Edmonds.

Earlier this year, Edmonds, a KC-135R pilot, while on a long drive with his wife, Alison, decided to write a book about his military experience as a Christmas gift for his soon-to-be-born daughter.

The idea snowballed into a series of four books - one each centered on the Air Force, Army, Navy and the Marine Corps.

"Each of our books has cartoon characters based on the service vehicles of each branch of the military," said Edmonds. "We call them the Service Pals."

"The Air Force book features characters like Totin' Tony Tanker, a KC-135R, and Fast Freddie Falcon, an F-16, performing in the annual air show," he continued.

The other services' books follow the adventures of equally appropriate characters as they come to the rescue and serve their country alongside their human counterparts.

In addition to providing a fun reading experience for young children, Edmonds wants these books to be educational and helpful to kids during long deployments.

"I would hope that [the Service Pals books] would bring joy to the kids, educate them a little about the military, and give them comfort that their loved ones are protected by a Service Pal when they are gone," he said.

What started as a holiday gift idea for their first child, soon became a tangible object that the Edmonds' could share with their daughter and other military families as well.

The publisher of the Service Pals series, Mascot Books based in Virginia, has worked through countless revisions with Edmonds and his wife, and plans to begin printing the final product over the next couple of months.

For now, the Edmonds' will share the print proof of their first Service Pals book with their newborn daughter, born in late November, on Christmas day.

Editor's note: This story was originally scheduled to run in mid-December 2012, but due to a delay in publishing we decided to hold it until the book was ready. On Jan. 10, 2013, Maj. Edmonds received his first shipment of Service Pals.