Editor’s note: In recent visits to AFA offices in Tupelo, Bert and Shirley Brady talked about the “Welcome Home a Hero” project operated by the United Service Organization at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
Each morning, Bert Brady rises early to join a brigade of volunteers at the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Airport, greeting servicemen and women returning from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. Last year, he made the trip 300 times. He’s on about the same track for 2007.
Bert and friends – sometimes hundreds – wave American flags, wear small signs bearing the soldiers’ unit and insignia and hold posters welcoming our troops home. Some are ending their tour of front-line duty and others are on two-week leave. All are moved and honored by the Welcome Home a Hero project.
Bert first landed in the spotlight last February when ABC News cited him as their Person of the Week. Since then, he has been bombarded with mail, media requests, recognitions and awards. One recent honor at Fort Hood, Texas, named him a Hood Hero for Community Service.
After learning about Welcome Home a Hero, AFA Chairman Don Wildmon issued an e-mail Action Alert inviting constituents to register their thanks to Bert online. AFA will present him with a CD containing almost 100,000 names and a plaque expressing appreciation.
Reluctant hero
Bert is hailed by many as a true American hero. But he doesn’t wear the title very comfortably.
“I don’t think I’m a hero,” he told the AFA Journal. “A hero is somebody who saves somebody’s life, and I certainly haven’t done that. The heroes are over there fighting this war.”
Bert and his wife, Shirley, have been astounded at the amount of attention he’s received, especially since the ABC News feature. Letters come from active duty military men and women, veterans, their families and others who are moved by his volunteer work.
A Minnesota soldier wrote, “We were overwhelmed and surprised by the hero’s welcome we received from about 200 strangers at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Those of you who haven’t served overseas can only imagine how important it is to us to have your support.”
Another veteran heard about Bert, then tracked him down in an online directory. He wrote, “I want to thank you and everyone with you from the very bottom of my heart. I am a Vietnam veteran, and we were told when we came home in 1970 not to wear our uniform to the airport because we would not like the greeting we would most likely get.”
Shirley said Bert has been going to the airport since December 2005 and since that first day, it’s been his passion.
“I really can’t tell you why he does it,” she said. “I’m not sure he can tell you why. It’s just that the troops are so appreciative.” Depending on traffic, it can take Bert anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to drive the 28 miles to the airport. Some days he doesn’t get back home until noon.
Shirley occasionally goes to the airport with Bert, but her role these days is more often that of cheerleader and media traffic controller.
Beyond the call of duty
Bert is quick to point out that the project is successful because of the work of the USO and the full cooperation and participation of the airport authority. In fact, he credits DFW for support above and beyond the call of duty.
“They have spent millions of dollars to serve our troops,” he said. The airport provides free parking for volunteers who welcome troops home. DFW also provides space for a USO club, a library and a movie room for troops who have long layovers between flights at DFW. And, Bert said, if the crowd of volunteers is light, DFW will issue a request over the public address system encouraging others, including airport personnel, to join the welcome lines.
Military personnel shipping out also benefit from the airport’s involvement. For this outgoing military contingent, volunteers have to fan out all over the airport because servicemen and women are arriving from their homes across the nation. Volunteers welcome them, offer to do errands for them, guard their bags in a secure location and generally act as hosts.
Bert praises Defenders of Freedom (www.defendersoffreedom.us), a non-profit group that oversees numerous troop support projects, including Welcome Home a Hero.
Letters from all levels
President George W. Bush and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker are among those who have written Brady. He values letters from the elite, but he takes as much joy – maybe more – in a letter like the one from a seven-year-old girl who saw him on ABC News.
She made him a Valentine and sent it with a letter saying, “I want you to keep greeting the soldiers that come home from war. I also want to thank you for your service in the military.”
She went on to tell him that all of her grandpas had been in the Navy and had served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Bert himself served in the Army in the 1950s.
A fellow Texan wrote Bert of his emotional experience upon returning home: “I was so shocked and overwhelmed, as I had never heard of this [hero’s welcome] and it came totally unexpectedly. I have many memories of my years overseas, but the day I walked off that plane and into your arms will always be one of my most treasured.”
Only the Dallas and Atlanta airports receive soldiers’ planes on an almost daily basis. Thus, Bert has become something of a national symbol, an ambassador representing the millions of us who feel as he does about the troops but can’t go to DFW every day. But that doesn’t let us off the hook, Bert said. He urges people to write letters, and to help children write letters and draw pictures thanking our soldiers. Then take them to the local National Guard Armory for delivery.
He believes National Guard personnel and their dependents may be suffering the most, adding that a lot of those families are on food stamps. Bert said when we see a soldier, we should say thank you or pay for his meal at a restaurant. We could also organize a fundraiser or throw a Fourth of July party – anything to honor, support and encourage the troops.
Shirley expects the DFW project to be a long-term part of their lives. “In fact,” she said, “he’s been asked the question ‘Have you thought of not going?’ And he says, ‘Well, no!’ So I guess he’ll go until he can’t go. Or until they’re all home.”
Bert is the ultimate people person, the never-met-a-stranger sort of fellow. He loves to talk and he even welcomes the media attention. But in the end, for him, it’s not about the attention, it’s about our servicemen and women. Despite his disclaimer, Bert Brady is still hero to many whose lives have been enriched by his unselfish sacrifice to show honor and respect to U.S. troops.
