We here at the USO couldn’t do what we do without the support of our amazing volunteers around the world.  Recently we’ve received a couple of great emails from volunteers, letting us know about their USO experiences.  Enjoy!

The first letter is from Michigan: “Dear USO, Lorraine and I [two USO volunteers -ed.] met  Lee and Sue Scherwitz at our USO tent.  Lee shared his story that in 1966 he met Sue at a USO Dance at Selfridge AFB in Mt Clements, MI and in 1967 they were married.  Lee has great memories of the USO and has a special date with the USO in his life! Lee served in the US Air Force for 26 years, serving Vietnam though Desert Storm.  He is currently the Airport Director Southwest Michigan Regional Airport (BEH).

Have a great USO Day, Welton and Lorraine”

[caption id=“attachment_3119” align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Lee and Sue Scherwitz at the USO tent in Michigan; they met at a USO Dance at Selfridge AFB and have been married for 43 years!”][/caption]

And this great letter is from Georgia: “Hi Everyone, I had the most wonderful day yesterday and wanted to share it with my Atlanta friends.  Steve and I volunteered a day at the USO at Hartsfield Airport.

We started our day getting there around 6:45am, signing in and prepping the food area with drinks. Then we were assigned the duty to greet the military as they arrived at the airport and positioned ourselves in our USO aprons and welcoming signs and cart at the top of the escalator where all the passengers exit to go to baggage claim.

The day started (7:00am) as the young men (mostly) and women came up the stairs to be greeted by loved ones excited to see their daddies and sons home for R & R (Rest and relaxation for 2 weeks) after being away for 8 months. They are so young and tears welled in my eyes!!!! Can I do this today??

As the morning went on things slowed down and we become the official airport greeters, helping direct many to baggage claim and ground transportation. Then around lunch time the flights started coming in from all over the country bringing back the young men and women who are returning to the war front. Some greeted us with looks of Where am I, Where do I go, Big smiles or those already starting to get back into their game faces. But not a single one was not happy to have us there, to let them know where to go and to direct them to the USO where they can rest and eat a hot lunch and get refreshments. I can DO this!!! We were told we could leave around 1:00 but I turned to Steve and said I can’t leave yet they are still coming, I have to do this. We stayed and greeted till 2:45, when after several waves of passengers had arrived no more soldiers were in the groups. Almost 8 hours later!!!! One of the best 8 hours I have spent in a long time.

People came up to us to thank us for supporting the troops, some didn’t know what was going on and we explained to them what the USO is all about. A volunteer program receiving donations from corporations and just regular folks.

So next time you come up those escalators take note what you see. Most folks just walk past our military, don’t notice them, they are invisible. Most have very little money, very young, very polite, they are the best of the best, I could not be more proud to be an AMERICAN.

I will do this again soon.

God Bless America, God Bless those soldiers I interfaced with yesterday, they will be in country by Saturday, God be with them and protect them and all those fighting to keep us FREE!!!!

Lynn”