This morning I had the privilege of greeting 220 service members who were coming home from Iraq & Afghanistan at DFW airport. There were about 12 of us from Unitrin there, greeting and handing out snack foods for them. This was their first contact in the USA since starting their way home from over there.
On one side of the walkway were all the family members who were there to pick up their loved ones and on the other side were people like us from Unitrin who went out there to greet, shake hands, high-five, clap, whoop & hollar and thoroughly welcome these guys & gals home.
The reactions ranged from dog-tired, to a little embarrassed, to shocked, to thrilled, to touched, with all the emotions involved. I didn't realize we had lowered the age you could join the armed forces---some of them couldn't have been over 13. It just made you feel good and feel proud to live in this country that you could spend a little time to say "thank you for your service" to some real heroes.
One of the best parts was when a grandmother handed over a tiny baby girl about 1 month old to a returning daddy who hadn't held his new daughter before. This was after he had been assaulted by his 3 year-old daughter with hugs and kisses.
I stood in line beside 2 Vietnam Veterans. I asked them how many people greeted them when they came home. The answer was "None." I told them that was a rotten shame and that this was for them, too, for their service. Want to see a grown man cry? That did it.
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