Answering the call of duty, again

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Charles Nichols never went to bed Tuesday night. The twice-wounded 80-year-old veteran of World War II sat in his home in Eliot, Maine, afraid he might sleep too late.

Nichols wanted to make sure he was on hand to greet a Marine Corps detachment when it first set foot on American soil after a six-month deployment to Afghanistan.

So shortly after 3 a.m. he hopped into his Mazda and drove the 20 minutes to Pease International Tradeport, a former Air Force base that is now the site of several returning military flights.

When the chartered Boeing 757 carrying 128 members of the First Battalion Third Marines set down yesterday before dawn for a two-hour refueling en route to the battalion's base in Hawaii, Nichols and a dozen other military veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam were there to welcome them.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/18/answering_the_call_of_duty_again_veterans_salute_returning_troops/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Front+Page

See tons of troops in DFW all the time - I'm thinking they should take Seals & Crofts' "We May Never Pass This Way Again" out of their Muzak loop down there....

Some of the airlines are putting active duty service people in First Class when upgrade seats are available.