America Strong Fundraiser For Tracer's Link In Memory Of Rick Schafer - Lauren Flake

I’m honored to tell you about our #AmericaStrong fundraiser for Tracer’s Link in memory of Rick Schafer.

I am just so in awe of my incredible friend Ashley and her unwavering faith and courage.

Our mothers were best friends for many years, and our families attended church together for most of my childhood. Ashley and her sister Amy treated me like a younger sister always. I could not have had more kind and compassionate role models throughout my adolescent and young adult years.

My husband and I attended the Flood Aid TX fundraiser in Austin this weekend. Singer-songwriter Jack Ingram stressed the fact that Texans step up to help fellow Texans when bad things inevitably happen to good people.

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Tracer’s Link

I cannot think of a better example of this than the loss of Ashley’s husband, Major Rick “Tracer” Schafer. He was one of the most honorable men, and Texans, I’ve ever been blessed to know. Rick was an incredible father, husband, son, brother, friend and fighter pilot. He died, alongside his younger brother, in a private plane crash near Abilene, Texas, August 31, 2014.

Rick “Tracer” Schafer

A native of Austin, TX, Rick attended Bowie High, where he initiated the school’s ROTC program, lettered in football as the team’s fullback, and graduated in the top five percent of his class in 1997. Rick went on to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy in 2001 as a member of the 18th squadron “Knight Riders”. He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin AFB, TX where he graduated at the top of his class in 2002.
“Tracer”, as he was known to his fellow pilots, was a decorated Air Force Veteran: with over 2, 000 flight hours in the F-16 and T-38. He attended training for the F-16 at Luke AFB, AZ in 2003. He went on to fly F-16s in the 555th Fighter Squadron, the “Triple Nickel”, in Aviano Air Base, Italy. With the “Triple Nickel” he flew combat missions over Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. “Tracer” then served as an Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals instructor pilot at Moody AFB, GA; Sheppard AFB, TX; and twice at Columbus AFB, MS, where he excelled in preparing future pilots for combat. Rick also served as Safety Officer while deployed to Ali Air Base, Iraq, was a graduate of Air Command and Staff College and Squadron Officers School.
Rick was an accomplished aircraft builder and pilot, skilled woodworker, an expert in home remodeling and welding and loved to hunt. Always outgoing and upbeat, he had a lasting impact on everyone he met. Avery and Rachel’s Daddy participated in every aspect of their lives including reading Bible stories, playing dress-up and teaching them how to use their pink BB guns safely. Rick and Ashley were high school sweethearts and were married for 13 amazing years … .

His legacy lives on

We will miss Rick’s servant heart and awesome sense of humor. His death was a huge blow to his Air Force family. It was also a huge blow to my childhood church family and, of course, his immediate family and friends. But his legacy of unwavering faith and service to others is alive and well. It lives on in his wife, Ashley, and their two young daughters.

Truly a big sister to me, Ashley is one of the strongest, most selfless women I’ve ever known. She has put on a brave face. She has carried on the good fight through the loss of her high school sweetheart and father of her children.

Having two little girls of my own, it hurts my heart just trying to imagine the magnitude of their loss. If you’d like to learn more about Rick and Ashley’s journey since his passing, follow Tracer’s Link on Facebook.

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)

Since Rick’s death, Ashley has been very involved in TAPS. This organization provides support to families grieving the loss of military heroes.

The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) offers compassionate care to all those grieving the death of a loved one serving in our Armed Forces. Since 1994, TAPS has provided comfort and hope 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national peer support network and connection to grief resources, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones.

We are not made to grieve alone. We are called to celebrate in community and to grieve in community. And we are called to serve one another always.

Rick lived this truth. And Ashley and their girls continue to live this truth.