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Operation Handshake welcomes veterans flying home for Thanksgiving

Military veterans and active military troops flying into Grand Rapids International Airport for Thanksgiving will be given a hero’s welcome. 

As a way of honoring West Michigan’s military personnel, the Patriot Guard Riders and airport volunteers will participate in “Operation Handshake,” an event to welcome home returning military members and veterans, and to thank them for their service.

“We spend the whole day there. We are there from 8 in the morning until 7 at night,"  Tony VanGessel, the Patriot Guard Riders Senior Ride Captain said. "We stand in the flag line and we let them walk through there and we thank them for their service and their sacrifice.”

While Operation Handshake requires standing in line for almost 12 hours straight, seeing Veterans’ reactions to being welcomed home makes the sore feet at the end of the day worth the aches and pains.

“The start crying, they say ‘is this for me?’ and we say ‘yeah it’s all for you,’ you sacrificed a lot to keep us free. There are WW2 vets who have never been welcomed home before, they come down in their wheelchairs and they just start crying when they see all the flags. That makes it all worth it.”

Volunteers are of course welcome to come and join the Patriot Guard Riders Wednesday at the airport at any given time. Having lost his cousin during the Vietnam War, VanGessel says Veterans need to know that there are people in West Michigan who care and count on the sacrifice they make to serve the country. 

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