NPR: Officials Put an End to Free Food for Troops at Airport

Officials Put an End to Free Food for Troops at Airport

For many of the soldiers on their way back to the U.S. from Iraq and Afghanistan, the treats they received from the troop greeters at the Bangor, Maine, airport were probably the first homemade food they had eaten in months.

But the cookies, brownies and whoopie pies are gone. The Associated Press reports that last month, airport officials informed the Maine Troop Greeters that they were enforcing a ban on the distribution of the food and beverages. Some of the greeters accuse vendors at the airport of pushing officials to close down the operation and force troops to buy things from them.

Airport officials say that no one complained to them -- they're enforcing the ban because of safety concerns about food prepared at home.

The Kennebec Journal did a story last year about the role the greeters (most of whom are elderly) play for the returning troops. Since 2003, about 500,000 troops have gone through the airport as they leave for or return from assignments overseas.

The Bangor Daily News reports that the greeters are willing to give up the food if it means they can keep their room, which is currently filled with memorabilia given to them by the troops. The greeters can still allow the troops to make free phone calls. The New York Times reports that airport officials will meet with the greeters Friday to devise an agreement about what kinds of food they can give the troops.

5:13 PM ET | 06-21-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I remember going through the Bangor, Maine, airport upon redeployment from Iraq. It is a very small airport, probably built in the 1960s.

Since I was an Individual Augmentee (IA) [not a part of a larger unit], that was the only public homecoming I received.

I remember it was a nice gesture even though I was tired, jet lagged, grimy, and preoccupied about hitching a ride back to Fort Bliss on a larger unit's plane. I remember buying food, so I either did not accept food stuffs from the greeters, or did not eat it once it was accepted. I would have gladly taken a prepackaged whoopie pie, however. As an officer, I refused the offer for a free phone call to allow more opportunity for the lower enlisted Soldiers to call home.

Even though I redeployed some years ago on or about St. Patrick's Day 2004, I distinctly remember the reception was just as much for the greeters as it was for the Soldiers coming home. The greeters were elderly, and at least one was an older veteran confined to a wheelchair. It was a nice way for the generations to intersect.

Sent by Chris | 6:07 PM ET | 06-21-2007

"Safety concerns about food prepared at home"?! The unreasonable "safety" mania that has seized our country since 9/11 needs to end. The greeters offer goodies to weary adults who don't have to accept them. There is a long tradition of citizen-run canteens for troops. They are a bright spot of tenderness and human concern in the midst of a stressful process. If we can't have the freedom to trust our communities and ourselves--especially in our displays of kindness, compassion, and appreciation--what are the soldiers fighting for?

Sent by Katie Rankin | 6:46 AM ET | 06-22-2007

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