Pease Greeters Show Patriotism is Back

On Sunday at 3:30 a.m., most Portsmouth area residents were probably sound asleep before getting up later in the morning to enjoy the rest of their weekend.

But 100 volunteers from the Pease Greeters were wide awake as they waited to greet a group of 230 Marines who were making one last stop at Portsmouth International Airport before heading to the war in Afghanistan.

"It's not a big deal for us to get out of bed at 1 a.m. and greet a plane at 3 a.m. with brave men and women who are going to be putting their tails on the line," said Chuck Cove, chairman of the Pease Greeters, on Monday afternoon.

Cove said the Marines were pleased and surprised to see so many people waiting to greet them before they resumed their journey overseas. Cove said the group had coffee and doughnuts for the Marines and also the international phone bank inside the airport terminal that allows them to call anyone anywhere in the world free of charge. Pease Greeters will often lend military members their cell phones so they can contact their loved ones and let them know they are okay.

Cove said if the Pease Greeters welcome a day-time flight, they will provide sandwiches, pizza, baked goods and other beverages.

Sunday morning's troop charter flight was one of four troop transport planes the Pease Greeters will welcome in March. According to the group's website, the Pease Greeters are also scheduled to meet troop planes on Tuesday, March 20,  at 7 p.m.; Thursday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. and on Friday, March 23, at 3 p.m. The Pease Greeters welcomed a previous troop transport flight on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 8 a.m.

Some of the flights are transporting soldiers overseas to either the Middle East or Europe to support the war on terror and the March 22 flight is bringing soldiers home. Pease International Airport is frequently used by the military to refuel aircraft that transport military personnel.

Since the Pease Greeters were formed in 2005, the group has welcomed more than 200,000 soldiers onboard 425 planes and counting, according to Cove. Regardless of when these troop charter flights touch down in Portsmouth, the Pease Greeters turn out in full force with patriotic signs, cheers and applause for the military men and women who walk into the terminal.

, Cove told Portsmouth Patch the group's members have made sure that every soldier who has passed through the airport terminal knows how much their service is appreciated in the post-9/11 world.

Cove said the group actually formed in May 2005 when Bill Hopper, director of Pease Airport, learned a Department of Defense flight with 135 troops headed to the war in Iraq was making a stopover here.

Cove said Hopper contacted him and Cove then reached out to as many people as he could to make sure those soldiers were greeted properly and provided with refreshments and the support they deserve.

From there, the group's numbers continued to swell. Cove said there are 4,100 registered Pease Greeters listed on the group's website. Most of them are from the Seacoast area, but they also have some members who are from Maine, Massachusetts and Maine.

Besides American troops, the Pease Greeters have also welcome Belgian, Norwegian, Macedonian troops and soldiers from other countries that have supported the War on Terror.

When asked on Monday afternoon what drives Pease Greeters members the most, Cove said many of them are Vietnam War-era veterans or family members of those veterans who remembered how they never received a heroes' welcome when they came home and they don't want that to happen again.

Cove said in the last few years, he is seeing more children onhand to greet the soldiers including Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Brownie troops. He thinks it's great that the younger generation is gaining such an appreciation for the men and women who serve the country.

"Patriotism is back," he said.

For their efforts to make sure every military member who has fought in the war on terror knows how much they are appreciated when they are either returning home or heading into harm's way, the Pease Greeters are the Portsmouth Patch Greatest Person in March.