Pease Greeters - Portsmouth, NH

Chuck Cove, Chairman Pease Greeters

The Pease Greeters

Who We Are And What We Do.

Thanking Our Troops, One Flight At A Time.

I am honored to serve as your Chairman. It is a privilege for me to be a member of an organization whose members go out of their way to see that not only are the brave men and women serving our country treated with respect, but our veterans as well. I am always moved by the manner in which we the Greeters pay this respect to or troops and veterans. The mission of a Greeter is always clear and is carried out with grace and dignity becoming of American Patriotism.

· To welcome troops passing through Pease International Airport on their way to, or from, Afghanistan or Iraq, or any other areas of conflict in any part of the world.

· To create within Pease an environment that reflects the respect and high esteem in which we hold our Veterans.

· To promote broad participation by the general public in this welcoming of heroes, paying special attention to the education of school children.

It does not matter whether it is 0400 (4AM) in the morning or 1600 (4PM) in the afternoon the greeters are there to welcome the troops. The Greeters’ welcome has three phases; the initial greeting which includes hundreds of Greeters clapping and cheering while patriotic music plays in the background. Hospitality continues with Dunkin Donuts ™, coffee, soda & water, cookies, Friendly’s ™ ice cream, and many more delicious goodies (too many to mention) along with use of the telephone banks installed by Whaleback™ Industries so that our brave men and women may place telephone calls free of charge to anywhere in the world. All of this is topped off by being able to spend time with a great group of Americans who are appreciative of what they do for our country.

The Greeters’ closing ceremony may come last, but it is far from least in the overall scheme of the greeting. This part of the greeting includes photographing the troops so that each flight may be added to Hero’s Walk – a hallway at Pease dedicated solely to our brave men and women whom have passed through Pease International Airport. Next our Nations Colors are presented, we have the singing of our National Anthem, a blessing from the Greeters Chaplain, a brief presentation of who we are to the troops before us along with a reading of the Star poem – Stars from retired flags with a poem are given to every man and woman who come through Pease, and an offering of “the shirt off our back” – a signed Pease Greeter sweatshirt presented to the commanding officer. At the closing of our ceremony, just prior to the troops boarding the flight, the officer of the day will salute the troops with the following words, “We, the old Warriors, salute you, the young Warriors”.

Please join us in supporting our troops (Be aware that Greetings are addictive)!

Board Of Directors
February 2010

Chuck Cove - Chairman	David Frye	Ray Jellison
George Davidson	Dennis Lauze	Scott Mace
Bette Owens	JoAnne Schottler	Al Weston