Volunteer spotlight: Frankie Hard

January 16, 2022

United Through Reading relies on our amazing volunteers to help us reach service members and Veterans around the world. They help facilitate recordings, spread the word about United Through Reading, and serve as ambassadors for our programs. One of our

CS2(SW) Robert Franklin “Frankie” Hard, III, USN, shares his most memorable moment as a United Through Reading volunteer:

“I would say that out of all of my memories of assisting families with recording. The most memorable was assisting an active duty mother, whose husband was deployed on the USS Lincoln as it shifted homeports from Norfolk, Virginia to San Diego, CA. She had her four children with her and shared that it had been over ten months since they had seen him. She told me how stressful it was and how much they all missed him. She asked me if she could go into the Mobile Story Station and read a book alone. I sat outside with her children, and she went in there and read a few books for each of them. When she came out, she thanked me for watching her children and providing her the opportunity to read each of them a book and tell them how much she loves and misses them. She stated that once her husband got home, she would soon deploy and that those recordings would be left with her husband so that when she is gone, they will be able to watch them.”

He added, “That brief moment shows how much sacrifice that military families have to endure, and dual-military parents sacrifice even more. It also showed that the simplest gesture allows military members to stay connected through reading and creates everlasting memories.”

CS2 Hard is one of our rockstar volunteers – he is currently volunteering aboard the USS Essex which made the most recordings for one ship in 2021! Thank you for all that you do to keep military familie connecting through the power of reading!

Interested in volunteering for United Through Reading? Find out how on our Volunteer Opportunities page and sign up today.