200 US Troops Greeted Home by Local Volunteers

Patriotic fanfare blared from a stereo as a crowd filled with family, friends and veterans cheered for more than 200 U.S. troops arriving back home at Baltimore-Washington Airport on Monday.

The international terminal at BWI was filled with the sounds of a small-scale parade as volunteers with Operation Welcome Home greeted the serviceman with handshakes, applause, cowbell clangs and a basket of goods.

The organization has routinely offered a warm welcome to home-bound troops since it started in 2007, employing volunteers and donated goods from the community.

On Monday, a father was reunited with his daughter and wife, and another man was welcomed back home by his grandfather, a military veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

BWI serves as one of four international hubs throughout the country where returning troops land before connecting with other flights. OWH makes sure that volunteers are there to greet them when they land. Among the welcome-home gifts are a basket of treats which includes a water bottle, chips or crackers, candy and a greeting card hand-made by students from the area.

Phil Seidel, a seventh-grader at Central Middle School, whose mother volunteers with OWH, was one of those who wrote cards for the troops.

“This is a good thing, I think, because the soldiers don’t always get a lot of thank-yous,” Seidel said.

Seidel’s teacher asked the class how many of them had family in the military and about half the class raised their hands. They all participated in creating cards with messages that welcomed the troops home and thanked them for their service.

TJ Schafer’s grandson was returning home after a six-month tour in Iraq with the U.S. Air Force. Schafer is a veteran of the air force as well, having served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. His wife, family and others were ready to greet their hometown hero with a giant sign and warm smiles.

Schafer said his welcome after landing on U.S. soil from Vietnam wasn’t nearly as colorful.

“I remember they had coffee, orange juice and donuts laid out for us, and that was in an office,” he said.  “I didn’t see my family until the next day, after I’d driven home.”

Most Vietnam veterans were treated as pariahs by the public after popularity with the war at home plummeted according to Schafer. He said the culture of the country has changed since those days and troops are more accepted by the general public after returning from their service.

“I think it’s a much different era we live in now, and the society has changed for the better,” he said.

Students with St. Francis Academy of Baltimore also volunteered their time on Monday to distribute the care packages to each troop. Dom Burton, a member of St. Francis’ key club, said he thinks all troops deserve a welcome even if it seems to be only a small gesture.

“Sometimes it’s the small things that count. I believe if I were a soldier, I would like this,” Burton said. “They’re risking their lives for us. This is the least we could do.”

More information about the Maryland branch of Operation Welcome Home can be obtained by visiting their website.