Pease Greeters to Welcome Troops Home for Thanksgiving

While many Portsmouth area residents will enjoy eating turkey dinners, watching football and reconnecting with their families, the Pease Greeters will be welcoming some troops home.

According to the Pease Greeters web site, the volunteers will welcome 50 soldiers at 11:20 a.m. at Portsmouth International Airport followed by another 51 soldiers who will heading overseas at 9:30 p.m.

The volunteers will also be welcoming several more troop flights during the holiday weekend and throughout the month of December, according to their web site.

On Friday night, they will welcome 52 military members before the head overseas at 8:50 p.m. They will also welcome another 53 military service members who are returning from overseas on Saturday at 11:20 a.m. followed by another troop plane that will bring 54 military service members through the airport on Sunday at 9:30 p.m.

Since the Pease Greeters were formed in 2005, the group has welcomed more than 200,000 soldiers on 425 planes and counting, according to Chuck Cove, the group's chairman. 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.

In September 2011 when the Pease Greeters welcomed 40 Air Force members home, 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.