Bangor, Maine "A Day In The Life Of A Troop Greeter"

Bangor, Maine was a quiet small town that came to life in March of 1991.

I’ll never forget that day when the first plane load of troops refueled at Bangor International Airport (BIA). The leaders of Bangor knew troops would be refueling at BIA and they made all these big plans to greet the troops. What they didn’t expect was the first plane to arrive hours before it was scheduled to land. Nobody was ready!

Although it had a rocky start, the people of Maine are what really happened that day and every day after for months and is still happening today.

BIA made national TV and several articles in print have come out of it. This is an attempt to bring you into the life of a Troop Greeter. You see, in Maine March is known as the “suicide month”. Maine winters are long and by March people are sick and tired of winter and anxious for Spring to arrive. The excitement of greeting the troops as they came through Bangor took on a life of its own.

I personally became addicted to being there for every plane load that arrived. I lived in the approach to BIA and knew the sound of a Troop plane. I’d wake up throw on a T-shirt and my red, white and blue blouse; Run downstairs and turn on the outside light, open and close the outside door a few times to warn any skunks around to vacate the premises. I didn’t want to surprise a skunk and get sprayed.

I'd make a dash for the car and arrive as the troops were filing in. It wasn’t long till we “Troop Greeters” got a plan and calls were made as soon as a flight was confirmed.

I wonder how many people (greeters) will make it this hour of the morning? Normally I arrive about an hour before the flight in order to get a decent parking place and a good position in the receiving line. I have difficulty believing how many people are here already! Ah, there's a place, my secret place, not many people think to look here to park. It has plenty of lights and is near the ticket booth. No one at the ticket counters it’s way too early for any flights. As I reach the top of the stairs I see Dottie and Millie; they are just about always here before me. That Dottie, she's always smiling and happy. She's a bubbly person. Millie is sweet but a bit quieter, although I've noticed a bit of impishness about her.

HI! What's the latest on the flight? Are they on time? Did you get any sleep? Pretty good crowd for this time of night, hi, Kathy. I need yellow ribbons. United 747, with how many troops? Wow, we'll have to hustle to get them all pinned. Oh, look, a band is coming. Alright! We're going to have live music for this flight!

People just show up. As far as I know very little planning went into the greetings after the first few days.

We'd stand in line and visit with each other an hour or more waiting for the flight to arrive. The price of a good spot in line is about a one hour wait. Sometimes after paying the price, we would have someone (probably attending for the first time) come and push their way to the front and crowd us so tight we could hardly move. It was hard not to get mad. Yes, we all want to greet the troops and shake their hands, but please, pay the price. Then one day I had a man pushing and getting in front of me. I said something to him and when he told me it was his first time and he was a Viet Nam vet and this was part of his therapy, recommended by his therapist, to get over the rejection of the United States when he returned. All of a sudden being in front of him was not at all important and I felt ashamed of my behavior. The look on his face as he greeted the troops said it all. I went to another area and started pinning yellow ribbons on the troops that had already been through the line.

I got ahead of myself. When standing in line someone will spot the plane and yell! Everyone in the terminal starts cheering. We know the troops on the plane are cheering too. They are finally back on American soil. One flight attendant told me on her flight the cheering of the troops was so loud the pilot could not hear instructions from the tower!! Now, that's loud.

From the time they land it usually took 15 to 20 minutes before they enter the terminal. First timers can't understand why it's taking so long for the troops to come in. We regulars know the troops have to go through a brief customs inspection. Sometimes it takes longer because the troops are so anxious they try to get off the plane as soon as it lands. The customs people don't enter the plane till they are all seated.

The lady with the American flag, Dotty Thibedeau, is patiently waiting way down the end of the corridor. The troops come and stand behind her. At this point they begin to realize something is going on. They look and can see several people standing in line. Carl and Kathy are the first, then the American Legion color guard, auxiliary and VFW members and auxiliary.

Now someone inside the terminal spots the troops coming – this is a long hall they come down and it isn’t until they turn the corner they see the magnitude of the people waiting to greet them. OK, here they come!! The terminal starts to erupt in cheering. This is our early warning system!

I have stood up near the International building with the VFW. I was totally amazed to learn, when standing with the crowd I was wasting my time yelling till I could see the person carrying the flag. You cannot hear the crowd at the other end of the hallway. As far as the troops know, this is it. About 20 to 25 people saying "Welcome Home" and shaking their hands. Not a bad reception, really.

As the troops start getting closer to the terminal I can imagine their thoughts are something like this:

TROOP: What's the hold up? I want to call home. Someone holding an American flag is going to lead us to the phones? OK, but let's get going.

Wow, look at all the veterans that are here to greet us. This is great! This first guy's wearing a Vietnam cap. He sure didn't have this kind of reception.

All these veterans....I'm one now.

This one is really getting on in years. (Joe King, Sr. - 82 years old made every flight he could.) It sure is very thoughtful of these people to greet us. But, huh, what is that at the end of the hall? Looks like more people. Some people standing on the right in front of a table full of food and teddy bears. What's going on? They want to shake my hand too?

Golly, there's a lot of noise in this place. I hear a band playing. Lots of signs and posters saying "Welcome Home, Desert Storm Troops."

Can't go straight, too many people blocking the way, guess I'll go to the left ….what in the world!!!! There are hundreds of people cheering and grabbing my hand. Smiling, happy people saying, "Welcome Home." What….. what? . . . . This is too much to comprehend. I didn't do anything to deserve this. I was just doing my job.

She looks like Mom, I've got to have a hug. Oh, this is great. I can't keep the tears back. This is too much. America IS behind us. It's true. What we've been hearing is true. Thank God. It's nothing like it was for the Vietnam veterans.

GREETER: They're at the Troop Table. The volume level of the cheering goes up. They must be getting close now. There's Dottie carrying the American flag. As the troops round the corner and the greeters realize they made it to the terminal the noise becomes deafening!! You can hardly hear the band. The troops look stunned!

Shake each hand. Look them each in the eye... "Welcome Home." (Do they realize I really mean it?)

My husband was a Viet Nam veteran and it was very hard for him. I was the only one there to greet him when he got home – he too arrived early and he had to wait for me to drive the hours it took to get to the airport. The country was in turmoil and our Viet Nam troops were spat on and not welcomed as heroes. They were treated as villains.

Greeting the troops at BIA was cathartic for many of the Viet Nam veterans. We troop greeters did our very best to pick out the Viet Nam veterans that were also in Desert Storm. Most were in or very close to tears. A few were very angry. We troop greeters at BIA tried our level best to make up for the horrific way our Viet Nam vets were treated by making sure this never happened again.

Oh, this one is about to cry. He hugs me. The tears are trickling down his cheeks. It's hard to let go, but he has hundreds of other people waiting to welcome him home. We shouldn't hold up the line. Maybe I'll be able to find him later.

The excitement in this terminal is electric.

One time I shook so many hands in a 24-hour period my right hand hurt.

It is interesting how some of the troops' hands are soft, some calloused, some wet, others dry, some cold, some warm and some are super soft. I never noticed that much about hands before. Now and then a troop would grab my hand so tight I'd think it is going to break! I head of some of the women greeters that were sore and bruised from some of the rib-breaking hugs they received!

Glance over at the phones. The first of the troops are through the line now. I'll go start pinning on the yellow ribbons. I remind myself to be sure and look for the troop that was crying when he hugged me.

"May I pin this yellow ribbon on?" (as I'm pinning on the ribbon) "We say it is part of the uniform of all the troops that have passed through Bangor. I wouldn't want you to be out of uniform!" I try to look them in the eye and shake their hand or if they want, give them a hug, as I say, "Welcome Home."

Sure are a lot on this flight. There are Sylvia and Linda pinning as fast as they can. We have calluses’ on our index finger from pushing the pins through. (A very small price to pay.)
Millie is carrying the sign trying to find Vietnam vets for Carl to pin. You know, we make a pretty good team.

This troop wants to talk. I forget about the ribbons and give him my undivided attention. If we don't pin them in the terminal we can get them on the way out. Nice guy, trying to find the words to thank us for the greeting. The troops have difficulty finding words to describe how much they appreciate what we're doing. I understand.

Back to pinning ribbons. Check the troops' pockets. There's a troop alone, no ribbon. I approach and say, "Hi, you're out of uniform!" I love the expression on their faces when I say that. (I do have a mean streak in me.) I explain after letting him sweat a bit. "You don't have one of the official yellow ribbons yet. May I pin one on you?" Welcome Home."

Boarding call, already? Where does the time go? Run to the front of the line inside the terminal. Shake hands. I yell, "BYE. Next stop is THE one!

"These were a great bunch of troops. They sure are ecstatic now. Never did find the troop I was looking for. Some moments are so fleeting.

Here come the stragglers. Every flight seems to have a few that aren't in any hurry to leave. You try to hurry them and some say they don't care if they miss their flight. They are having too much fun. They want to stay in Bangor.

No can do! They do a head count back on the plane and come looking if troops are missing! I’ve had troops tell me they don’t have anyone to greet them when they arrive home.
Pretend I’m you Mom and give me a big hug!

Makes me extra happy to know I was there for him. Most people have never had this much attention in their lives or ever will again. We have no idea the impact we had on them.

Bye!

Wild cheering, trying to get the last of the troops on the plane. So often they want to hug everyone on their way out. I wave to them as they head up the ramp. It's amazing how many turn back and wave to the crowd over and over, till they are out of sight.

They go back out through the Veterans receiving line. Last ones they see are Carl and Kathy.
Wow, they were great!

(Then we greeters chat awhile about this group and the different things that stand out in our minds.)

"When's the next flight? In 2 hours. Has it been confirmed? Great, how about a cup of coffee at the Coffee Shop while we wait? Maybe we can help make yellow ribbons.

"Then it happens all over again and again until there are 4 or more hours between flights....
"See you guys next flight! Get some sleep!"

I've been so up for so long, I don't realize I'm tired. Now, I have to change gears and head on home. Shall I try and get some sleep or do housework? I'm usually too wired to sleep.

I left 28 hours ago, Bob is probably just getting ready for work. I'll tell him about the flights while he eats breakfast.

Hi, honey. Yes, I've been greeting the troops. As usual the flights were great. Let me tell you about this one troop..….

Today over 18 years later, there is still a contingent of people in Bangor, Maine greeting every flight coming from and going into war zones around the world.