Back from the front

Not all of our heroes are on the front lines.

Some of them, like Patty Lollar, are right here at North Lake.

Lollar, whose husband served in Vietnam and whose son, Sgt. Lanny Lollar, has already served twice in Iraq, knows what it’s like to fight the war at home. But she doesn’t spend her days glued to television news. Instead, she limits her viewing to one hour per day so that she can make a difference in others’ lives.

In addition to volunteering at veterans’ hospitals, Lollar and her husband participate in the Welcome Home a Hero program at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. In fact, their chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars (Post 5074 – Roanoke) helped found the program.

Through Welcome Home, Lollar and dozens of other volunteers greet troops when they arrive at the airport, home from Iraq for the Rest & Recuperation Leave Program (R&R). The R&R program allows soldiers to come home for a period of two weeks during their service. “Vietnam veterans like my husband were not welcomed home, and that’s not going to happen to this group of kids,” Lollar said.

According to Lollar, each of the soldiers is greeted with a smile, a handshake, a hug, a kiss, and lots of water. “I feel like … those soldiers are my children,” she said. “I greet them as my sons and my daughters.”

Lollar has also witnessed the amazing on more than one occasion – a returning soldier holding his infant child for the very first time.

Through her volunteer work and her family ties, Lollar has learned that our soldiers want American citizens to know what good work they’ve done – building infrastructure like roads and schools, restoring power and air conditioning and protecting Iraqi children. She recounted the story of one veteran who finished his tour of duty and volunteered to go back to Iraq to make prosthetics for Iraqi amputees.

Lollar wonders why the media can’t focus more on stories of hope, like the ones that she’s heard.

Every day is a battle for Lollar. The news is depressing, she says. It’s not only news of what’s happening on the front lines that troubles her, but news of what’s happening in Washington, D.C.

She says that Congress should not consider cutting funding for the troops as a means to force President Bush to end the war. In her view, forcing such cuts is like depriving water to thirsty human beings. The results could be dire.

Lollar does concede, though, that one can support the troops without necessarily supporting the war or the president. She goes on to say that not even she can agree with every tactical decision that has been made: “Being a military wife, I have learned that you don’t speak against the president or his policies, but I may not always agree with them. Like them or not, I still support the military wholeheartedly.”

North Lake student Paige Verdicchio agrees.

“Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter,” Verdicchio says. “As Americans we should all support the troops and be patriotic for them.”