Welcome Home A Hero

Today I had the blessed honor of welcoming home 144 troops from overseas who are coming home for R&R. Andrew and I went with his Cub Scout pack and I must say it was one of the most emotional and humbling experiences I have had in a while. DFW and Atlanta airports are the only two airports in the nation that soldiers fly into for their two week R&R breaks. A few years ago some volunteers decided these heroes needed a true patriotic welcome home and began the program of "Welcome Home a Hero" at DFW. There is a flight EVERY single day of these troops coming home - usually about 100-200 each day. These volunteers have gone out of their way to decorate the terminal with posters and banners and patriotic music plays as the troops come out the gate. Today's flight was scheduled to arrive at 10:45am but after we got there we found out that it had been delayed about an hour. I'm glad though, because it gave us an opportunity to speak with total strangers and find out why they were there. There was our pack, a motorcycle riding club all decked out in their gear, several WWII and Vietnam Vets and just a multitude of individuals and families wanting to say "Thank You". One family I spoke with said they try to come out at least once a month to help remind their children of the importance of what these soldiers are doing for us. Another gentleman stated that he had never been able to serve in the military for medical reasons, so he felt the least he could do was welcome home those that do. There was a Vietnam Vet who said he comes out almost everyday simply because he remembers the hostile homecoming he received when returning from that war and doesn't ever want another soldier to feel that same feeling. The best part of the morning though was getting to see one of the soldiers meet his six month old son for the very first time - and the tears in his wife's eyes when she handed him to his dad. And to think these reunions happen every single day.

For those who live in the DFW area, I highly encourage you to go out some time and experience it for yourself. It is very convenient to get to the gate, it is separate from the rest of the gates, no security to go through and they pay for your parking. You can google "welcome home a hero" for more info and for the phone number to call for each days flight schedules.