A member of Operation Welcome Home Maryland greets a soldier as he returns from duty at Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport.

That’s where Operation Welcome Home (Maryland) stands ready. As war fighters make their way through the gates, OWH(MD) extends a welcome that includes much applause, cheering, gift bags and tears.

‘‘There are always tears,” said Capt. Kathy Thorp, USN Reserves. Thorp was recently selected as the Commanding Officer, Operation Health Support Unit (OHSU), Camp LeJeune, N.C. ‘‘We pass out tissues because there are always tears.”

Thorp began OWH(MD) in March of 2007. he became aware of troops who were returning home to no fanfare. ‘‘I asked someone why we weren’t greeting them,” said Thorp. With the help of a dedicated volunteer, John Flynn, a list serve was developed which helped to recruit folks to be part of the welcoming committee.

The group currently consists of over a dozen couples, many retired military members, who rotate as Team Captains and welcome home troops. Thorp receives a list of dates troops will return and group members have set days they serve as greeters.

‘‘We’ve greeted over 13,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines so far,” said Thorp. ‘‘When we started, my goal was to greet every service member that arrived,” she said. BWI averages eight flights a month with returning warriors, ‘‘and we haven’t quite greeted all the flights, but we’re getting closer,” said Thorp.

The group, not yet registered as a not-for-profit organization, has found help from many places. ‘‘People are very generous and we have lots of community participation,” said Thorp, adding that the group relies on donations to assemble snack bags for arriving troops. ‘‘We know that many of them (returning military members) have been on the road for 48 hours,” said Thorp. All returnees are presented with a bag that includes things like snacks, phone cards, letters from school children and other items. She said several companies including Geico, Southwest, and Verizon have sponsored troop returns and sent employees to help assemble snack bags. ‘‘BWI administrators have been very supportive and now allow our members to park free. Everyone has been so helpful,” said Thorp.

OWHM greets an average of 1,500 service members a month and bags cost about a dollar each to assemble. ‘‘People are very generous to donate money or gift cards for BJ’s, Sam’s or Costco, and 100 percent of their donations go directly back to the troops,” said Thorp.

Thorp says the group has developed a reputation and is becoming widely known. ‘‘In April, Sen. John McCain heard about us and came to meet us and thank us for our effort. We told him about our group and provided him a tour of our storage area and the USO facilities at the airport,” said Thorp.

Thorp began her active duty service in 1981 and spent three years on active duty in the Navy. She began her reserve service immediately after and was activated for both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving as a nurse at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda. In June 2006, she went back on active duty and spent two years with Bureau of Navy Medicine and Surgery in Washington, D.C., working deployment issues daily. She will now serve as CO of OHSU at Camp LeJeune in November.

Operation Welcome Home Maryland is looking to grow and always needs a few good volunteers as well as donations. Those interested can visit www.operationwelcomehomemd.org and click ‘‘What to do” to learn how to help the organization. ‘‘The Web site includes where to park at the airport, what to bring, where to meet, and has great photos of events,” said Thorp. She said one of the groups’ volunteers videotapes each homecoming so that families of service members can see the arrival.

All one has to do to learn about the organization is visit the online guestbook. ‘‘I want to thank you guys for a WONDERFUL homecoming!” wrote Maj. Wes Choate of the Arkansas Air National Guard. ‘‘I've never had a reception ever. It was very humbling to be received in such a manner. Many thanks to all the VFW, Boy and Girl Scout troops and the every day citizens involved in this endeavor,” Choate wrote. ‘‘You help put the hardships of deploying in the proper perspective and I personally wish to thank you.”

‘‘What a special and touching surprise it was to have such a wonderful group of people to welcome my husband home from deployment,” wrote a military spouse from Delaware. ‘‘Having always returned to an Air Force base, I was expecting it to just be my son and I waiting for him to return. The bells and cheers and wonderful volunteers really made his homecoming special. Thank you to ALL of those who helped to make his return so special!” she wrote.

Thorp counts among her volunteers several Vietnam vets who shared that they ‘‘came home to not such a good reception and vow to make as many homecomings as possible. They are grateful that someone is there since they never had that,” said Thorp. Thorp was recently asked to speak at MIBARS first Annual Vietnam reunion about OWH efforts, ‘‘ which was quite touching for many,” she said.

Her fondest memory is of a wounded soldier who made his way to National Naval Medical Center Bethesda for treatment, via Landstuhl Air Force Base, Germany. The soldier arranged for an ambulance to take him to the airport to greet his unit. ‘‘It was breathtaking,” said Thorp. ‘‘He was waiting for them in his wheelchair. They hadn’t seen him since he took off in critical condition, and they (the unit) didn’t know the outcome. It was very emotional,” said Thorp.

Thorp summed up her work with Operation Welcome Home Maryland very succinctly. ‘‘God puts us in different positions for different reasons,” she said. She has been lucky enough to ‘‘get that connection of the generosity of Marylanders who support our troops to personally show their appreciation to the troops themselves. It’s all very exciting,” said Thorp.