Peter Perry

The Early Days

Peter was born in Gardner, Maine, the second of four boys. His first nine years were spent in a farmhouse in Whitefield, Maine, just east of Augusta towards Jefferson, where they had a few animals for eggs and milk. His father worked as an engineer for the Togus Veterans Administration in Augusta. At 9 years old, they moved to one of the houses at the Togus facility, where he lived until he graduated from Cony High School in Augusta, 1968. While growing up, he spent a lot of time with friends around the Togus facility. In his junior year of high school, he was walking to the bus when he saw a 1935 Ford Coupe in the parking lot. He used all of his savings ($400) to buy the car, which he used until about 4 years ago, when he finally sold it.

During the summer between his junior and senior years of high school, his mother’s friend got him a job at Camp Natarswi, a Girl Scout camp in Millinocket as a kitchen boy. He met his future wife, MaryAnn, who was a counselor at the camp, there in the summer of 1967. In an interesting coincidence, Peter’s parents met the same way, at the same camp. His father was a kitchen boy, and his mother was a counselor as well. Peter and Mary Ann got married in 1971.

While in school, he worked at a car repair shop, which allowed him to repair his own car. Working on old cars like that, the Tucker provided a great experience in unique auto repair. After high school, he attended Aerotech College in Bedford, MA, to earn his FAA aircraft mechanics license.

Military Service

Prior to Aerotech graduation (in 1970), his mother called him and said, “Don’t come home. There is a little green jeep outside with 2 green men with a letter for you.” Therefore, he began looking around and joined the Navy. They had a very progressive aircraft school to attend, and they offered him a deal he could not refuse: 4 years of training and work, and he did not get drafted. Twenty-two years later, he retired from the Navy. During those years, he worked on aircraft and helicopters on shore and at sea

For the first 16 years, he worked on P-3s; then for 4 years on helicopters; and finally returned to P-3s until he retired. Out of boot camp, he was an E2, an airman. He was then promoted to Petty Officer and later to Senior Chief, retiring as an E8. He was offered a promotion if he worked at the Pentagon, but the idea of not working in the field was unappealing, so he retired.

Life after the Military

He was immediately offered a job with Northeast Express in Bangor, a feeder carrier for Northwest Airlines.  They had many small planes that flew mostly on the East Coast as well as to Halifax, Nova Scotia. 18 months later, they folded. There were no aviation jobs unless he was willing to travel.  Therefore, he got a part-time job at the Post Office and worked there for a few years. A former Navy Reserve Chief was running the maintenance operation at the Bar Harbor Airport, so Peter drove there, found him, and was offered a job with Acadia Air. After that, he worked for a few others, including Telford Aviation, and then started working for himself after earning FAA certification as an FAA inspector. Therefore, he could work for different maintenance facilities as an FAA inspector.

Why did you volunteer to be a Maine Troop Greeter?

He volunteered for 2 reasons. In 2003, a good friend of his was a troop greeter and invited him to join him to greet a flight. After the first greeting, he was hooked. The second reason was that he was a Vietnam-era Veteran. They did not get the recognition they deserved, so he wants to make sure that the Troops are thanked and recognized. He also immediately became involved and was on the first board of directors for the first few years after it was founded. He would greet flights day and night, sometimes for 48 hours straight. There were times when 1000 troops were at the airport. He has been greeting the troops as much as possible since 2003. There have only been a few times when he has not been able to be there, but his interest in greeting the troops has not diminished over the years. Every flight is an honor to attend

Stories/Memories of Troop Greeting

Late one cold, windy, snowy night, he greeted a flight of Marines coming home from deployment. A number of them went outside to smoke, where he joined them and met a group of 3 Marines. One was very young and said to him, “What the hell are you doing here? It’s 2:30 in the morning, snowy and cold.” Peter responded, “I’m here because of you. I wanted to welcome you home. Where did you just come from?” Marine: “A war zone”. Peter:” And where are you now?” Marine: “Home”. Peter: “Welcome home”. That deeply affected the young Marine, who walked away with tears in his eyes

Another time, when he said, “I’m here for you” for a Troop, he put out his hand to recognize that he got it.  When the Troops are coming down the line, and you watch their faces as you shake their hands and see the looks of happiness on their faces, it reminds you why you are there and why it is important.  It means a lot. The emotion of greeting never gets old, and he is always excited about the next one.

It was late at night. They did not know if the plane was coming or going. It was a mixture of troops from different branches. He was in line. There were a good number of troop greeters. He then noticed some Navy troops coming down the line. From up on the ramp, he heard a guy saying, “Senior Chief Perry, what are you doing?” It was a big guy who was in his squadron when he retired who worked directly under him. They were a small group at the time who were very tight. He came down and gave Peter a big bear hug, who explained what the troop greeters did and why Peter was there.

In summary, Peter is a dedicated Maine Troop Greeter who loves being there for the Troops!