The mood on Fort Bragg's Green Ramp is one of excitement and anticipation.
More than 300 paratroopers assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, are scheduled to return from a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.
The soldiers' family members have gathered in force to greet their loved ones. Some hold balloons; others wave hand-written signs:
"All of us really missed you, Mark!"
"Come give your mama a hug!"
For many of the relatives, it is the first time they have been to such an ceremony. For others, it will be the last. But for one visitor to Green Ramp on this November day, the ritual of the returning soldier couldn't be more familiar.
Roland Rochester, a Vietnam War veteran and longtime Veterans of Foreign Wars member, has been to every Fort Bragg deployment and homecoming for the past decade.
That has meant some very late nights and some very early mornings. But Rochester sees it as duty.
He saw the 1st Brigade off a year ago and would not have missed its return.
"I put them on the plane at 3 in the morning, and now I'm taking them off the plane," Rochester said.
Rochester, 61, comes from a military family. His father and five uncles served in the Army, he said; another uncle served in the Navy.
Upon graduating from high school in Teaneck, New Jersey, in 1970, Rochester said he considered joining the Coast Guard but ended up choosing the Marines.
Rochester said he welcomed the structure of military life.
"I was never one of those guys that was on the street messing around with drugs or gangs," he said in an interview at his Fayetteville home.
In the Marines, Rochester served first in the infantry, then the military police, then in a reconnaissance battalion.
Rochester's Marine career included a Vietnam stint in 1971-72, he said.
"We would be the first to go in before anybody would go in," Rochester said. "We would make sure the beachhead was secure and there was nothing in the way."
Today, Rochester is reluctant to talk about his time in Vietnam. In fact, he shuts off all conversation about the subject.
"I don't talk about it," he said. "I don't speak on it with anybody. We lost a lot of friends."
After the Marines, Rochester said he served in the National Guard, then the Marine Reserve. He went back on active duty until a shattered left knee suffered during a training mission led to a medical discharge in 1984.
After his military service, Rochester worked as a plumber in New Jersey. He moved to Moore County in 1992 to be near relatives and relocated to Fayetteville in 1998.
A VFW member since shortly after his service in Vietnam, Rochester became more active with the group after moving to Fayetteville. He is a VFW recruiter, serves as a cook at military functions and helps organize "trunk or treat" Halloween activities for military children. Rochester's wife, Joyce, and 21-year-old son, Raheem Dunlap, also help.
In 2004, Rochester started seeing troops off and welcoming them back at Green Ramp. In the decade since, he hasn't missed a homecoming or deployment.
Rochester sees his presence on the welcoming and departure lines as a continuation of a duty he first took on more than 40 years ago. He said the returning and departing soldiers appreciate a familiar face who understands what they are going through.
"Most of them are worried about their families. I tell them, 'Don't worry about your family,'" Rochester said. "They ask me if I've ever been in a combat situation. I say, 'Yes.'"
Rochester has Army clearance to be on the runway as soldiers board or depart planes. He shakes each soldier's hand, thanks him for his service and passes along what encouragement he can.
Sometimes, he helps with more practical matters. If a soldier doesn't have a cellphone to call his family, Rochester lends his.
"If they come to me, I will assist the best way I can," Rochester said.
Rochester is as circumspect about his interactions with returning and departing soldiers as he is about his Vietnam service. He said his discussions with soldiers are private.
But the interactions can be emotional. When asked about them, Rochester excuses himself and briefly leaves the room.
Joyce Rochester said she sees the effect that greeting arriving and departing soldiers has on her husband.
And she sees his reaction when he learns that a soldier he saw off to Iraq or Afghanistan won't be returning.
"For the most part, he keeps a smile on his face. But especially when they're coming home, it's a teary-eyed situation," she said. "When they let him know that Sgt. So-and-So didn't make it, that's a very emotional time for him. He tries not to let anyone see it, but I see it."
Over the years, Rochester has become as well known to Fort Bragg commanders as some of the soldiers.
Lt. Col. Gabe Barton, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 18th Airborne Corps, said he deployed out of Fort Bragg at least four times. Each time, Rochester was there.
Barton said Rochester recruited him for the VFW.
"I said, 'What proof of deployment do you need?'" said Barton in a telephone interview from Kabul, Afghanistan. "(Rochester) got this big smile and said, 'Sir, I personally put you on an airplane three times.'"
Barton called Rochester "a great American," and not just for volunteering his time on Green Ramp. He said Rochester always makes himself available for whatever a soldier may need.
As far as Rochester's duty on the ramp, Barton said it is hard to overestimate its importance.
"When you come down those stairs, it's sort of a blur. You're happy to be home, you're looking forward to seeing your family," Barton said. "You just have this big, friendly face that greets you and calms you down and reminds you that it's not all about you. He's there for all of them."
Army chaplain Tony Cech has seen Rochester at many deployments and arrivals - 15 or more, he said. Cech said he believes it is important to have a steady, reassuring presence at the emotional ceremonies.
"He will be one of the first faces they see," Cech said. "I think it's important for them to see that a generation past cares for them."
And what does Cech think Rochester gets out of it?
"I would guess maybe some joy," Cech said. "Obviously, he's got to care about people. Maybe it's the ability to in some way keep serving."
Conversation echoes off the walls of the cavernous Pax Shed as families await the return of their loved ones at the 1st Brigade Combat Team homecoming.
Fort Bragg personnel instruct the families on what to expect when the plane touches down. A brass band warms up in anticipation of the arrival.
Rochester strides into the shed, his loud voice booming above the din. Bald-headed with a small moustache, he wears a black jacket and a cap emblazoned with "VFW Post 6018."
Working his way through the crowd, Rochester exchanges handshakes and hugs with soldiers and family members.
"They all know me," says Rochester. "The top sergeants, colonels and majors all know me."
Carleen Meckenstock was in the Pax Shed with her 17-year-old son, Hunter Garecht. They were awaiting the arrival of Meckenstock's other son, Cody.
It wasn't the first homecoming Meckenstock has attended. In a sea of mostly unfamiliar faces, Meckenstock said Rochester is a welcome presence.
"I have seen him here at midnight, 3 o'clock in the morning, handing out flags," Meckenstock said. "He's a face of recognition. He's been around so long. It's important to know there's people that support the military."
As the United 747 loaded with soldiers circles in for a landing, the families erupt in cheers. Rochester and a small contingent of Fort Bragg officials walk out onto the tarmac to greet the returning soldiers.
Rochester shakes the soldiers' hands, exchanging a few words with them as they descend the plane's stairway.
The soldiers march into the shed, keeping formation until being released from duty. Then they run into the outstretched arms of their wives, husbands and children while the brass band plays.
Rochester circles among the happy families, a smile on his face, clearly in his element.
"I'm happy about seeing them," Rochester said. "This is my home, that's for sure."
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© 2014 The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) Visit The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) at www.fayobserver.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
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