Elizabeth Laird, 83, has greeted every single soldier passing through Fort Hood since 2003 and has become known as the Hug Lady. So when she fell ill, soldiers came from all over the US to pay back her kindness.
Elizabeth, from Texas, US, joined the Air Force in 1950 before volunteering for the Salvation Army with her late husband, Earnest.
When the Iraq War began in 2003, Elizabeth asked if she could go to Fort Hood to greet and receive the soldiers. She told Today: “A lot of them were leaving home for the first time and some of their families couldn’t be there to see them off.”
Elizabeth continued to be Hug Lady whilst battling breast cancer, until, on November 3rd, she was physically unable to see the soldiers off anymore.
Elizabeth estimates she’s welcomed or waved off over 500,000 soldiers and, as news spread of Elizabeth’s poor health, those soldiers travelled hundreds of miles to give the volunteer a hug of her own.
Many soldiers remember their encounter with the Hug Lady and remind Elizabeth of how important it was to them when they visit.
Trish, a soldier’s wife, said, “The Hug Lady is the last one they see before deployment and the first civilian they see when they return. She’s there at 2am, even if only a couple soldiers are on the flight.”
One soldier traveled from New York to Elizabeth’s bedside in a Texas hospital to say hello.
Elizabeth says of the meetings, “When they enter the room, they give me a hug and then we talk about anything from their family to what it was like overseas, or if they’ve got a civilian job upon returning. Sometimes the line is so long we have to turn people away.”
“They tell me how much my hug meant to them and how they’ll never forget it.”
Elizabeth’s son started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for his mom’s hospital bills, raising $85,000 in just two weeks.
Elizabeth even received a letter from George W. Bush thanking her for her compassion.
But Elizabeth shrugs it off: “I did not do this to be recognised… My hugs tell the soldiers that I appreciate what they’re doing for us.”
Fingers crossed Elizabeth feels better and gets back to Fort Hood as soon as she can…
… and no more soldiers have to be deployed without the special Hug Lady goodbye.