This summer
my AHG troop VA0428 participated in some really neat service projects. I want to share them not to brag about what
we did but instead to spread the word about some great opportunities. Both opportunities are about honoring our
military or veterans. You do not need a
group to participate in these opportunities, though prior coordination with the
people that run the event is necessary.
Operation
Welcome Home (OWH). Baltimore Washington
International airport (BWI) is a major hub for returning military from their
deployments. The military that come
through here are touching US soil for the first time since they left for their
deployment. Many will then make connecting
flights to go to their home bases all over the US. Some of them have their homes in the MD/DC/VA
area. OWH gives the returning military a
hero’s welcome home. There are two ways
to help: 1. send thank you cards to OWH for them to distribute, or 2. go to BWI
to volunteer. When you volunteer for an
OWH event, you help with three things: 1. decorate the airport (OWH has
decorations), 2. assemble goody bags for troops, and 3. greet, cheer, and thank
military members as they come out of the gate.
This quote
says it all:
"OWHMD Volunteers:
The greatest moment of
my 7-month deployment to Afghanistan was being greeted by you at BWI. The best
gift for a returning servicemember is a simple
"Thank You" and a handshake. You'll never know how much your time spent at
the airport means to us, but please accept my deepest appreciation for what you
do."
(signed) LtCol James H., USAF,
Phoenix, Arizona"
For more information or to find a date to go to a welcome
home greeting, please go to their website: http://www.operationwelcomehomemd.org
Honor
Flight. Honor Flight’s mission is to fly
veterans back to DC to visit their war memorial. One thousand World War II veterans die every
day. The majority of Honor Flight
missions fly into Reagan Airport. The
veterans fly in to DC in the morning, go see the war memorials and Arlington
National Cemetery and then fly back home that evening. What the local Honor Flight does is give
these veterans a surprise hero’s greeting when they arrive in DC. These veterans served our country and then
came home and went back to regular life without any thank you.
In June
when we went to participate with Honor Flight at Reagan, we welcomed 90 World
War II and Korean War veterans. The
looks on their faces when they walked out of the gate was priceless. They had no idea we’d be there, cheering for
them, and thanking them. Not one of the
90-80 year olds had dry eyes. We gave
our full names and birthdates to the point of contact a few days ahead of time so
that we could go inside security to participate in the gate greeting. It was definitely worth it! You may bring patriotic thank you posters and
thank you cards to give out. After the
gate greeting, we went outside to wave to their buses as they left. Later a couple families went to the memorials
to visit more with the veterans. The
veterans were extremely appreciative.
This is a
great experience for people of any age.
The organizers were excited when I told them I homeschooled. They said they had wanted to tap into
homeschool groups. Unfortunately during
the public school year, they often have no one show up for the surprise gate
greetings for the Honor Flights that are during the week.
There is a
great movie, “Honor Flight” that documents an Honor Flight from Wisconsin. In it, you hear from World War II veterans
about what Honor Flight meant to them. I
would highly recommend watching the movie to help your children understand the
importance and meaning of this. For
information on the movie: http://www.honorflightthemovie.com
Honor
Flights take place Aug-Nov and then start back up in the spring. For information on participating in an Honor
Flight event, please go to: http://honorflightdca.wordpress.com
______________________________________________
Carrie Kilareski is a local military wife, mom, and homeschooler. Thanks for the great information, Carrie!
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