In Their Words

Ashling Ganes 2

My name is Ashling Ganes and I am currently a Construction Superintendent living in New York, NY. I completed my service in the Army at the beginning of 2008 after six and a half years as an Engineer Officer. In March of 2003, I deployed to Tikrit, Iraq as a member of the 299th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas. I spent a long, physically and emotionally grueling year in Iraq, but my best memory is when I first stepped back onto U.S. soil.

After spending my last two weeks deployed in Kuwait arranging for the Soldiers in my unit to board their planes home, it was finally my turn. On March 17, 2004, I boarded a plane headed for Germany, then a stop in Maine with a final destination of Texas, where my family would be waiting for me. We were able to get off of the plane in Germany, where every Soldier felt their first semblance of modern culture. Each one of us rushed to wait in line for the pay phone, a real bathroom and the junk food at the USO. It was a great feeling to be on our way home after a year away.

When we re-boarded the plane in Germany, I just wanted to skip the stop in Maine and head straight for Texas. The thought of seeing my family again was overwhelming. However, when I got off of the plane in Bangor, Maine at 7am I realized that my immediate family members were not going to be the only people happy to see me home. I found myself being welcomed into a different family, the family of Veterans. To my complete surprise, the entire lobby of the airport was lined with Veterans clapping and cheering. There were a countless number of World War II, Korean War, Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans mixed in with the families of Veterans and people from the area who wanted nothing more than to shake our hands, give us each a hug and welcome us home. We were in the airport for less than an hour, but in that time I was offered every type of homemade baked goods imaginable and everyone was offering us their cell phones to call our loved ones. We were complete strangers to them, but it didn’t matter, they just kept referring to us as heroes. They were embracing us as if they were our own parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters alike; meanwhile they were local Veterans and American citizens who gave up their own time to give us the homecoming that they thought we deserved. The entire experience was extremely special and especially being called a hero, by Veterans who I had always considered heroes, was truly humbling.

The homecoming in Texas was surreal, running into the gym through smoke with loud music blasting, to see my family waiting for me. But I will always have an everlasting memory of the Bangor, Maine airport. My gratitude for the people of that community who came together to welcome all of us back onto U.S. soil was the ultimate heartfelt surprise that each one of us wanted.

I don’t think I realized until later, that upon my homecoming that day in the Bangor airport, I was no longer just a part of my unit or the United States Army, but that I would always be a part of something so much larger.

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