USO welcomes soldiers at Hartsfield Jackson

Metro Atlanta

USO welcomes soldiers at Hartsfield Jackson

Photos: The USO greeted and entertained around 5,000 soldiers from Fort Benning, Ga., heading home for the holidays, Dec. 2013.

Soldiers walk through the terminal as they head to the ticket counters. Beginning at about 2:30 a.m. thursday, some 5,000 fresh-faced buck privates in the middle of basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., arrived at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport by bus to pass through the airport on their way to hometowns across America for the holidays.

Linda Holmes,a customer care agent, directs soldiers to security and their gates.

The soldiers line up as they are escorted to ticket counters for various airlines.

Trevor Andrews checks in for his flight to a reservation in the state of Washington.

Soldiers have food and beverages in a USO lounge set up in the B terminal, complete with holiday decorations. It's one of the biggest days of the year for the USO, which had volunteers in place to offer directions, food and beverages.

Arien Torres (left) and Geoffrey Stowe share headphones to view a music video while waiting for their flights in the USO lounge set up for them in the B terminal.

Soldiers with a late flight out relax in the USO on the third floor of the atrium.

Soldiers queue up in the baggage area where they wait to be escorted to their ticketing areas to check in.

Reginald Levy talks to family members as he waits for a ride home to Atlanta.

Patrick Duncan (from left), headed to Sacramento, Kyle Foreman, headed to Fort Wayne, and Casy Hanlan, headed to Bozeman, grab a cup of joe in the Atrium.

Tyler White checks in for his flight to Vermont.

Jong Baik catches some shut eye in the Atrium USO as he waits for a flight home to Seattle.

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Soldiers walk through the terminal as they head to the ticket counters. Beginning at about 2:30 a.m. thursday, some 5,000 fresh-faced buck privates in the middle of basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., arrived at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport by bus to pass through the airport on their way to hometowns across America for the holidays.

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