Sara Latona given key to the city

Sara Latona, surrounded by friends from AAFES, was presented the key to the city by Mayor McNeal last week.

Calling her "our hero," Mountain Home Mayor Joe B. McNeal presented Sara Latona with "The Key to the City" along with gifts from local merchants, "with the gratitude of our community, our state and our country."

Latona was injured Oct. 9, 2004, in a blast near the Baghdad airport as she drove a bus and served as a courier between Kuwait and Baghdad, where she had volunteered to serve as a civilian employee of the Army-Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES).

As her coworkers from Mountain Home Air Force Base looked on, Latona accepted the key, noting, "It is hard to think of myself as a hero. I'm just an ordinary woman who happened to be involved in something extraordinary."

Gifts from local merchants included: a one night stay at Best Western in the jacuzzi suite, $40 gift certificate from AJ's, $25 gift certificate from House of Flowers, one free haircut and style from Salon 800, one free manicure from The Upper Cut, one free facial and one free pedicure from Curl Up 'N Dye, one free hour massage from Patsy's Hair Design, $10 gift certificate from Moxie Java, $20 gift certificate from Hedda's Gifts, and a one year subscription to the Mountain Home News.