Bringing Them Home
It's 7:00AM on a foggy Thursday morning, I'm waiting in line to get on post. I'm going to meet a plane carrying 291 Georgia National Guardsman, the 48th Brigade. I get my pass and make my way around to the back of the post. I have butterflies in my stomach. I've yet to bring in a plane that I don't get butterflies. The fog is really thick this morning. As I get closer I can see a plane on the tarmac. I almost panic! I'm worried they came in early and I've missed it. But then I begin to see the familiar�shapes of the white buses. The buses that will take these guardsman to their families in about three hours.� I'm glad I didn't miss this plane! I grab my apron and make my way inside to make sure plenty of water and drinks are on hand.� I walk in to find out that the plane has been delayed an hour due to the fog. I do just love the hurry up and wait game. 
� After standing around and waiting for an hour and a half I hear sirens. I don't think anything of it. Then I hear all this chatter and commotion. I turn around and who do I see? The governor of Georgia! He makes his way around and introduces himself. He's a nice man I guess..but my "celebrities" are on a plane coming home. When the plane does finally come in there is probably 60 people on the tarmac waiting to greet these guys. This is homecoming #16 for me.� When they start getting off the plane I can feel the excitement..ok ok..I'm a homecoming junkie...� Most of the planes that I've been there for have been very reserved. The soldiers just get off and make their way over to drop off weapons and that's it. But not these guys. They were waving to us and grinning ear to ear! One guy was�yelling "I love you! I love America! I'm home!" I shook each ones hand as they made their way inside. In addition to all of their gear some of them carried other things. One had a stuffed moose his daughter had sent him. One had a Georgia flag and held it over his head as he got off the plane. But there's one that really sticks out in my mind...I saw him coming towards me and the other USO volunteer with me. The volunteer with me�was holding a big flag. I watched this guy walk toward us..when he was about three feet away he stopped and saluted the flag my friend was holding. Then he took that flag in his hands and kissed it. That's when I saw what he was holding in his right hand...a beaten up faded flag. The stick had long since broken off..but that didn't really seem to matter to him. He� carried that flag as if it were brand new. I was glad he was one of the last guys to come through because I almost lost it. I had to turn around and not look at him anymore. I can honestly say I think this was the best homecoming I've ever done. �� said 37 months ago Edit · Delete · Permalink · 3 Comments
0 comments:
Post a Comment