Troops Come Home to Cheers

At first, they exited from behind the frosted-glass doors one by one, but soon, the intermittent arrival of soldiers gave way to a steady stream of green.

The clank of a cowbell intertwined with clapping of hands to form an offbeat drone that echoed throughout the Baltimore Washington International Airport on Thursday night.

More than one hundred people gathered at the international terminal to welcome 250 soldiers returning from the battlefield in Afghanistan. The crowd was a mix of boy scouts, veterans, and ordinary citizens.

The event, organized by Operation Welcome Home Maryland, was sponsored by the North County Republican Club (NCRC). For Alex Yarema, husband of NCRC President Brenda Yarema, the event is a chance to give soldiers of this generation the welcome home that his generation never received.

"I was in the service, and so were most of these other men here, when we came back there was nobody to welcome us and we had a lot of negative reaction," said Yarema. "I think the soldiers coming through here are thrilled to see that someone cares about what they are doing."

Thrilled is exactly how Staff Sergeant Monica Terry would describe it too.

"I'm very happy, but I wasn't expecting how many people came out here, especially on a weekday," said Terry. "We appreciate it very much."

SSG. Terry said she was hit personally when she saw girls in "brownie" uniforms, because her daughter is in a brownie troop as well. But the Staff Sergeant isn't quite home yet.

For her, and many of the soldiers, BWI isn't the final destination, but rather an intermediary point between battlefield and hometown. Terry still has to make her way to Birmingham, Alabama, where her family is awaiting her arrival.

For Ken Funk, a team leader and treasurer for Operation Welcome Home Maryland, being able to give troops a warm welcome when their families might not be there is hugely important.

"We make sure these guys get a welcome home that they deserve," said Funk.

Funk, a veteran of the Vietnam War, reiterated the importance of giving today's troops a warm welcome, something he never experienced.

"Our era didn't get a very nice welcome, so when I was looking for something to volunteer for, this is something that jumped out at me," said Funk.

Operation Welcome Home Maryland, which was started in 2007, greeted more than 45,000 troops last year alone, according to Funk.

The soldiers that arrived Thursday night were greeted with fanfare, but as they left the terminal, they boarded busses that would take them closer to their coveted final destination — home.