If you have ever come through Bangor International Airport in uniform and been greeted by a cheerful fellow determined to make you smile, even if it is 2:00 in the morning, there is a good chance you have met Danny Chasse. Danny is a Maine Troop Greeter through and through: dependable, funny, proud, and apparently powered by equal parts coffee, patriotism, and dad jokes.
The Early Days: A Very Busy Young Man Danny was born January 30, 1947, and raised in Millinocket, Maine, the second of six children. With two brothers and three sisters, he learned early that if you wanted to be heard, you had better be quick, funny, or both. Danny chose both. His brothers enlisted in the Air Force, while his father, a World War II veteran, commanded a unit of Japanese American soldiers in Italy and earned two Purple Hearts. Service, sacrifice, and looking after others were clearly part of the Chasse family DNA
As a young man, Danny was always moving. He played sports, competed hard, and became the 1965 Eastern Maine champion in candlestick bowling, a title that should probably come with a parade, or at least a very large trophy shaped like a candlepin. At Stearns High School, Danny played baseball and basketball, and during his senior year he was President of the Student Council. His classmates voted him class wit, best dancer, most talkative, and most school spirit. In a class of 150 students, that is not a résumé; that is a one-man variety show.
Danny also earned the only A of his high-school career in driver’s education. Naturally, he took that success seriously. He got his license at age 15 and has been driving professionally ever since. Apparently, he saw one report card grade and thought, Well, I know what I am doing for the next several decades
Danny loved to dance, and fortunately, one school dance changed the course of his life. It was there that he met Patsy, a student at Schenck High School in East Millinocket, while Danny attended Stearns High School in Millinocket. They married in 1970 and built a life and family together, raising their son, Justin, and their daughter, Stephanie. Stephanie became a schoolteacher and married John Campbell, a career Army helicopter pilot who served for 37 years. They have two daughters, Ella and Jessica. Jessica’s husband, Oakley Farnham, serves as a Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy. The family’s connection to military service runs deep These close ties to those who serve help explain why welcoming and greeting military members became such an important part of Danny’s life
Military Service
Danny served in the Army National Guard from 1967 to 1973. He drove for the unit’s commanding officer, a role that required responsibility, reliability, and presumably the ability not to miss a turn when the boss was in the passenger seat. Danny remembers the Guard as a close-knit family. Training included softball games, shared meals, plenty of hard work, and the kind of camaraderie that stays with people for life. When temperatures dropped to 10 below zero, Danny had a simple strategy: volunteer for the indoor jobs. He peeled potatoes, served food, and cleaned up afterward. Some people call that being helpful. Danny might call it advanced cold-weather survival training
Life after the Military
Danny began working for Great Northern Paper Company on May 5, 1965; his final day of high school. That evening, he attended his senior prom. Then, after a night of dancing, celebration, and probably a little less sleep than advisable, he went straight to work the midnight shift. He worked from midnight to 8:00 a.m. and earned $2.28 an hour. It was not glamorous, but it was a start, and Danny was never afraid of hard work. He remained with Great Northern for 45 years. He spent 43½ years at the Millinocket Mill until it closed, then completed the final year and a half at the East Millinocket mill, often working 12-hour shifts. That is a long career built on showing up, doing the job, and likely having a joke ready for whoever happened to be nearby.
After retirement, Danny and Patsy moved to Hermon at Stephanie’s encouragement so they could spend more time with her family, especially Ella as she grew up. Retirement did not slow Danny down for long. He drove cars for Acadia Auto Auction in Carmel for eight years, until the COVID-19 pandemic shut the operation down. Today, he still drives vehicles for rental-car companies in the Bangor area. After all, that driver’s-ed A was not going to waste.
Joining the Maine Troop Greeters
Danny first heard about troop greetings in 1991, when flight announcements aired on television and radio. At the time, he still lived in Millinocket, but whenever he was not working, he would make the 1¼-hour drive to Bangor, and another 1¼ hours home, to greet arriving and departing service members. That is commitment with a full tank of gas. His son Justin sometimes joined him. Justin enjoyed meeting the troops so much that service members occasionally gave him patches, small gestures that meant a great deal. After Danny moved to Hermon, Stephanie and Ella also came to greetings, often handing out Girl Scout cookies. For troops traveling through an airport far from home, those cookies were probably better than any airport food court could offe
At one point, U.S. Senator Bill Cohen publicly thanked the people of Bangor for greeting military flights. Danny wrote to him to point out that the welcome came from far beyond Bangor. Volunteers traveled from Millinocket, Bar Harbor, and communities all across Maine. Senator Cohen wrote back to thank Danny for his dedication and commitment to the troops. After Desert Storm, troop greetings paused for a time. Then, in December 2003, Danny volunteered with Wreaths Across America and learned from other greeters that the tradition had resumed, and that there was even a Troop Greeter room at the airport. Danny immediately returned to greeting flights. He has not stopped since.
Greeting the Troops
Danny has greeted troops at nearly every possible opportunity: mornings, evenings, holidays, and especially those 2:00 a.m. flights when most reasonable people are asleep under several blankets. Sometimes only a handful of greeters are there. Danny is one of the people troops can count on seeing. He walks around, shakes hands, talks with the service members, and makes a point of giving each person a smile.
His secret weapon? A collection of roughly 50 dependable dad jokes, carefully tested over the years for maximum groans, smiles, laughter, and occasionally the kind of laughter that leaves a person wiping away tears. He even has a few jokes reserved for the right audience and the right moment, because every seasoned comedian knows timing is everything. Danny also likes to remind troops that Maine has more moose and trees than any other state in the lower 48. They usually leave with a smile and a story
One of Danny’s most treasured memories involves his son-in-law, John, returning from a nine-month deployment. When John came down the ramp, Stephanie was so overwhelmed with joy that she ran up the ramp, even after being told she was not supposed to, and jumped into his arms.
Danny has been greeting troops since 1991 because he wants every service member passing through Bangor to know one thing: they matter. He loves seeing troops return home safely, but he is equally determined to welcome them as they deploy. Whether someone is heading toward uncertainty or coming home to family, Danny wants them to feel valued, respected, and appreciated. He has spent decades showing up, sometimes after midnight, sometimes in bad weather, sometimes when only a few people are there. He does it with a handshake, a smile, a joke, and the unmistakable warmth of someone who truly cares. For Danny Chasse, greeting troops is not just something he does. It is who he is.