VIDALIA — Erika Brown and her family have always been quick to thank a veteran.

“We’ve had a lot of people in the military in our family,” she said.

Brown herself is a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force.

When The Dart landed on Viking Street in Vidalia Sunday, Brown was relaxing with her family before heading back to Fort Walton Beach, Fla., where she serves as a medic.

Both of her grandfathers, Paul Brown and Joseph Stampley, served in the military, along with her biological father Eric Brown and a slew of cousins.

It was that legacy — and a desire to carry on the legacy of her father — that spurred Brown to join the U.S. Air Force.

Brown’s father Eric died in a car crash when she was very young while he was on leave.

She was raised by her mother, Jodi Coleman, and her stepfather, Aaron Coleman, and while she considers Aaron her dad, she never forgot her biological father.

“When I joined up,” she said. “I wanted to finish what he started.”

At first, being away from family was not easy.

“She has always been a very family oriented person,” Brown’s mother Jodi said.

But Brown grew into her position and adapted to the service.

“It is something that I can be proud of,” Brown said.

And while her family does not see as much of her as they would like, they show their support to her and all veterans in a variety of ways.

In Coleman’s front yard one of those symbolic tributes to veterans is a statue of a soldier carrying another soldier.

“It shows the struggle and the relationship of those in the military,” said Alena Stampley, Brown’s grandmother.

“Soliders sacrifice so much for us. We need to honor them every chance we get.”