Sea-Tac USO Volunteers Welcome 27,000 Troops Coming Home

When 18-year-old service members arrive at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport fresh from boot camp, many are shell-shocked and unsure what comes next. That's exactly why volunteers like Shirley Miller spend their nights at the Sea-Tac USO Center, making sure every young soldier has a warm meal, a comfortable place to rest, and a friendly face before their long journey overseas.

Miller started volunteering after her own son, who serves in the military, arrived at Sea-Tac in the middle of the night to find the USO Center closed. He spent three to four hours waiting alone in the airport terminal because there weren't enough volunteers to keep the center open 24 hours.

Now Miller works the late shifts herself, greeting nervous teenagers on their first deployment and helping them navigate the overwhelming experience of leaving home. "They're like, 'What am I supposed to do?' And that's what the USO is here for," she said.

She's joined by volunteers like Shawn Fujiwara, who spent 30 years as a chief steward in the Merchant Marine preparing meals for crews at sea. Now he rides the bus from Tacoma to continue doing what he loves most: serving people who serve others.

"That was my whole life, serving my crew or my people, and here I can keep doing it," Fujiwara explained. His decades of galley experience now go toward making sure young service members heading to Japan, Guam, and beyond get a home-cooked meal before their flights.

Sunny's Take

What makes this story special isn't just the 27,000 service members helped nationwide each year, or even the 300 active volunteers supporting USO Northwest operations. It's volunteers like Miller transforming a personal frustration into years of late-night shifts so other parents' children never wait alone.

Miller witnesses something remarkable on every flight night: teenagers who signed up to serve their country, now heading thousands of miles from home, many for the first time. "These guys and gals signed the dotted line for the country, so yeah, I'm grateful," she said.

The center desperately needs more volunteers to maintain 24-hour operations. Miller points out that even people without military connections benefit from volunteering: "Science has proven that if you volunteer, you get much more out of volunteering than what you give."

For now, volunteers like Miller and Fujiwara keep showing up, turning what could be a lonely airport terminal into a place where America's youngest defenders feel welcomed, fed, and supported as they answer their nation's call.