Buckner Retirement Village
Sends off the Troops

By Jenny Pope
Buckner News Service

Marie Doughty suffers from osteoarthritis, but as she passes out bottled water and candy to departing United States troops at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, her hips don’t really seem to bother her. Not a single desert fatigue-clad man or woman, no matter how tough the exterior, passes by without being wrapped into her gentle hug.

Doughty, along with 15 other residents of Buckner Retirement Village in Dallas, helped send off the troops July 3 as part of the United Service Organizations (USO) send-off project. The residents, member of Buckner Hearts in Action, volunteer the first Monday of each month as a way to give back to the community, according to business office manager and service organizer Vicki Rowe.

“We hope we leave a good impression on them as they go, to let them know we’re supporting them,” said Rowe, adding that often times, while there is a big crowd greeting soldiers as they return home, there are very few that come out to say goodbye.

“For many, this is the last group of Americans they will see on American soil,” she said.

USO Administrative Assistant to Special Events and send-off coordinator Linda Robinson said that “many of the soldiers have just left their families, and sometimes they’re down. So we try to lift them up. It’s important for them to know that we are proud of them. I can’t do what they do, but I can come here and thank a soldier, shake a hand. That’s my part.”

Alicia Russell, executive director of Buckner Retirement Village, initiated the first contact with the USO several years ago when her own nephew, returning from Tikrit, Iraq, told her how special it was to be greeted by the USO. When Rowe joined the Village in January 2006, she took on the project as a year-long endeavor for the residents.

Buckner Hearts in Action kicked off in February, 2006 with a ‘Morale for Manifest’ party where more than 22 veteran residents were honored for their service, and a group of ladies performed as the famous Lemmon sisters. A representative from Texas District 30 Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson’s office presented Buckner Retirement Village with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for their invaluable service to the community.

“This isn’t just something that’s good for the community, it’s good for our residents, too,” Rowe said. “They get to leave the campus and interact with other people. And for the ones who can’t go, we have them working on different goodies we can take to the soldiers, like decorated note cards and packaged candy.”

Grady Young, independent living resident and World War 2 veteran, said he enjoys talking with the young soldiers about some of his memories serving in the Navy in the South Pacific.

“It’s interesting to see where they’re from, since Dallas is just the send-off point,” he said. “I wish we had something like this during the Second World War. It’s a nice thing.”

Resident Coy Weaver, soon to celebrate his 60th wedding anniversary with wife June, still has many vivid memories from his Navy service in the South Pacific during World War 2. Weaver was drafted at the age of 19 and served as a radio gunner on a torpedo plane.

“I’ll never forget the day they told us the war was over,” he said, tearing up. “We were on out way to bomb Tokyo, just to let them know we were still there, and then they told us to drop our bombs and come home.”

“The [soldiers] love to see the veterans out here in their caps…hear their stories,” Robinson said. “They’ll usually go up and thank them for all that they’ve done.”

Sergeant Daniel Crossland could only describe the resident’s gratitude as “overwhelming. There are so many people thanking you for what you do, and you don’t know what to say. It’s a humbling experience.”

“It’s amazing how friendly and appreciative [the soldiers] are,” June Weaver said. “They put their arms around us and hug us, as if we were doing something for them.”

“Groups like this make a big difference in the morale of the soldiers,” said Sergeant First Class Ed Brockell. “A lot of soldiers get off the plane and think they’re going to see demonstrators, or anti-war rallies. So they’re taken aback when they realize that there are people who actually support them. It’s good for them to know that.”

For more information about Buckner Retirement Village’s involvement with the USO, please contact Alicia Russell at (214) 381-2171.