On Sunday a group of 60 families took off from Kansas City International Airport to Dallas as part of the “Snowball Express”, a non-profit organization helping families whose love ones have died while in the line of duty.
The families were greeted by clowns on unicycles, cheerleaders chanting, and face painting bringing plenty of smiles for the children before boarding the flight.
"When you came in you had all these balloons and activities it was a little overwhelming being our first event as a gold star family,” said Amber Eidem.
Amber Eidem's husband, U.S. Army Captain Aaron Eidem, died last February while trying to help two people whose car broke down on the side of the highway. Another car hit him while he was trying to help others.
"He basically sacrificed himself to save two people who were stranded on the road,” said Eidem.
Snowball Express will partner with American Airlines to fly nearly 1,800 children and spouses of fallen military heroes to Dallas/Fort Worth.
For Eidem’s two daughters it's a way for them to create happy memories with their mom.
"I can see them relax, take a breath and it kind of gives me a little bit of hope,” said Eidem.
"We don’t get really I guess do things like this a lot so being able to go out and do this will be a lot of fun,” said Amber’s daughter Shae Hogan.
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Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com
