“We at HFD are grateful that you are considering thanking these WWII, Korean and Vietnam veterans in person when they return home from these trips,” said Glenn Greet, one of the “greeting” organizers and an employee at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. “We want to give them the best possible surprise welcome home – one that many of these heroes never got when they served. Our purpose, as active/retired military, DOD civilians, friends, family and free people, is to make sure these veterans know that we’ll never forget what they did for us, and that they never forget how we feel about them.”
The arrival time is scheduled for 10:30 p.m., but to be in the gate area when the plane arrives, greeters must follow a number of procedures. They include obtaining a gate pass by showing a form of identification to the Sun Country Airlines via the Allegiant ticket counter and processing through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint before 8:30 p.m.
It’s requested that military participate in uniform. Civilians, friends and family members are encouraged to wear patriotic attire. Enthusiasm, cheering, sign waving, etc. are appreciated.
If the wait after arriving before 8:30 p.m. is too long, since the flight does not arrive until 10:30 p.m., greeters can still attend the reception in the ticket counter area after the veterans deplane and process through security. It is recommended that greeters arrive there by 10:15 p.m.
Greet is the point of contact at 257-1244, 431-8242 or 705-5034 and ggreet-hfd@woh.rr.com.
To learn more about the Honor Flight Network and Honor Flight Dayton, go online to www.honorflight.org and www.honorflightdayton.org.
About the Author