Hug Lady

From the Stars and Stripes:

"Legendary grandmother who committed life to hugging soldiers dies"

 

 

 

She was known simply as the "hug lady" and for a generation of soldiers deployed from Fort Hood to Iraq and Afghanistan, the diminutive grandmother was a steadying presence over the past 12 years Elizabeth Laird doled out hundreds of thousands of hugs, embracing soldiers as they shipped off and then greeting them in kind when they arrived back home. She made her hugs available at all hours of the day, regardless of the weather, becoming a military legend along the way. "This is my way of thanking them for what they do for our country," Laird told FoxNews.com last month. "I wasn't hugging in 2003. I used to just shake their hands. But one day, a soldier hugged me, and that's the way it started." For much of that time Laird was quietly waging a battle of her own against breast cancer, as The Washington Post's Colby Itkowitz reported after Laird was hospitalized in early November. On Thursday, Laird succumbed to her illness, passing away at Metroplex Hospital in Killeen, Tex., according to Fox News. She was 83. Col. Christopher C. Garver, a military spokesman, released a the following statement on Laird's passing: "On behalf of the Soldiers, Airmen, Civilians, and Families of III Corps and Fort Hood, I want to extend our sincere condolences to the family of Mrs. Elizabeth Laird, known throughout Central Texas as "The Hug Lady." She has long been associated with Fort Hood for her dedication, support, and genuine care for our Soldiers, Families and Civilian employees. For more than a decade, she has been personally saying farewell to our troops as they deploy and greeting them as they return. It is with heavy hearts that we express our gratitude for Elizabeth, not only for her service with the U.S. Air Force, but also in recognition of her tireless efforts to show her appreciation for our Soldiers and her recognition of their many sacrifices. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and loved ones; she will be deeply missed. In a 2011 profile of Laird, the Fort Hood Sentinel referred to her as "a bit of a celebrity to the soldiers." She told the paper that she considered the military her extended family and recounted being invited to a Thanksgiving meal at a Fort Hood dining facility: "I looked around at all the soldiers sitting there, and I told Ray, you know, this is my family," Laird told the Sentinel. "They are so wonderful, and I just feel like a part of them belongs to me, and I hope I belong to them." Her legacy lives on in a GoFundMe page set up by Dewees to help pay for Laird's medical bills. The page raised almost $95,000 from more than 3,000 people over the past month, or about $85,000 more than family members originally asked for. In the page's description, Dewees estimates that his mother hugged close to 500,000 troops. Asked by the Sentinel what prompted her to start offering hugs, her answer was straightforward: "I volunteered," she said. The paper noted that Laird had volunteered before, joining the Air Force when she was 18. "I grew up in World War II, and I wanted to do something for my country," she told the Sentinel. "It was a different time back then," she added. "Your movie stars went to war and they were out on the front lines. It was a very different atmosphere."

 

 ^ This is one of those stories that shows how a few ordinary Americans show their love and support to the men and women in the military that risk their lives for us everyday. It also shows that you don't have to spend money to show your appreciation. Sometimes just a hug or a handshake means more to the soldiers. ^

 

 

http://www.stripes.com/legendary-grandmother-who-committed-life-to-hugging-soldiers-dies-1.386206