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BRANDON - During the Vietnam War, he worked the ham radio waves from his Vermont home, deftly turning dials to link lonely soldiers with their wives and children.
Even now, his eyes light up at the memory.
"Just to hear a little boy get so excited to hear his dad's voice, it was very special," says Frank Suitor.
Decades later, Suitor still brings people together.
For nearly two years, he has been executive director of the U.S. Air Force's only off-base support center, established for the hundreds of military families who are assigned to work at MacDill Air Force Base but live in the Brandon area.
From a small suite at 710 Oakfield Drive, Suitor and a crew of 16 volunteers serve as a constant, dependable source of empathy and assistance for spouses, widows and children of service men and women from all U.S. military branches.
Through the MacDill Family Resource Center, they issue base decals and set up videoconferencing calls between deployed troops and Brandon-area families. They help spouses and veterans with annual tax returns and ease the adjustment for recently relocated military families.
Suitor is the Resource Center's only paid employee. He serves as an important liaison between the Brandon outreach facility and the family support personnel who work 20 miles away at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
When the video teleconferencing equipment acts up, Suitor pursues better, faster equipment. When a recent widow has questions about arranging her veteran husband's funeral, Suitor knows just the person to call for answers.
Above all, he is a constant cheerleader to his volunteers, some of whom must juggle their work with the worries of having a spouse overseas. The volunteers, he says, have made the center a success.
"I'm just the paid guy," he says. "I've got 16 amazing volunteers, the best in the world. This place works because of them."
Tending to military families is not a job for just anyone, Suitor says. Only those with military ties can understand the pain of seeing a loved one deployed or comprehend the sadness of a child lonely for a father or mother.
He firmly believes that he, a longtime reservist, and the volunteers - widows and spouses of service men and veterans, or retired members of the military themselves - were brought together by more than chance.
"God has pulled us together to serve these families," says Suitor, who is known to join a few volunteers in the center's waiting area for an impromptu prayer circle.
"We have a mission to serve military personnel and their families. Especially during times of crisis."
Suitor was born in Burlington, Vt., where his father worked for General Electric and his mother worked as a nurse.
His father never donned a military uniform, but the family includes a long line of soldiers who served as far back as the Civil War.
His half-brother, Keith, served in World War II and died 15 years later. The flag that hung over his coffin hangs in the Resource Center waiting room, a constant inspiration to Suitor.
Suitor was never a full-time member of the service like Keith, but he joined the Vermont Air National Guard as soon as he graduated from high school, and in the spring of 1958 reported for basic training.
Suitor spent only 14 months in active duty, including nine months of training at Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado. But he used the government reserve program to put himself through college at the University of Vermont.
His reservist training in Colorado included courses in airborne radar - knowledge that landed him his first job at GE, where he worked for 35 years.
Even at GE, he was connected to the military: In Burlington, he was a project manager for the GE plant that manufactured the Gatling gun used in military aircraft.
In 1996, Suitor and his wife, Susan, moved to Brandon, close to three of their four children. Even though he is approaching his mid 60s, and has seven grandchildren clamoring for his attention, Suitor insists he's not going anywhere. Too many families need help, and God wants him here, he says.
Suitor says he has always been a Christian, but it wasn't until he turned 60 and went to MacDill Air Force Base to get his retired reservist ID that "God spoke."
That day, he recalls, he found himself drawn to the base chapel.
"I just had this overwhelming sense of peace," he says.
In the past several months, with tensions mounting in the Middle East, Suitor has comforted countless families with his unflinching faith and friendly manner.
Mothers and their toddlers step into the Resource Center, and Suitor greets them with an upbeat, "I am having a blessed day! How are you?"
When they express concerns about the Resource Center being a possible terrorist target, Suitor listens and urges them not to let fear keep them away.
"He has such compassion," says volunteer Anita De Biase, who considers Suitor a mentor.
"His whole demeanor is caring for people."
- Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 661-2443 or svansickler@sptimes.com