Film reveals ‘The Way We Get By'

I started watching POV’s "The Way We Get By" thinking it was going to tell the story of the residents of Bangor, Maine, who greet every incoming and outgoing military plane that lands at the Bangor airport. It did that, and a whole lot more.

"The Way We Get By" is a film by Aron Gaudet. Its focus is three members of a group known as the Maine Troop Greeters, Bill Knight, 87; Jerry Mundy, 74; and Joan Gaudet, 76, who is the mother of the filmmaker. The three are dedicated to the cause — welcoming home returning soldiers and Marines and seeing off departing troops.

Joan Gaudet receives the phone calls about flights, and she notifies the others. After seeing the number of people who turn out as greeters, I can imagine a phone tree burning up Bangor at all hours of the day and night.

The greeters flank both sides of the walkway, offering handshakes and hugs, reaching out to each and every soldier or Marine. And the greetings offered to the troops, the genuine warmth and gratitude expressed to the men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, are enough to make you cry. They certainly have that effect on some of the troops, many of whom shipped out from the same airport and recognize the greeters from the day they left the U.S.

However, "The Way We Get By" is about more than the actual act of greeting and saying farewell to servicewomen and men. It’s the story of how belonging to the group has affected Bill, Jerry and Joan. All three have health and emotional issues with which they contend.

Bill was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which has metastasized. He’s a widower with collection habits that border on hoarding. His large farmhouse is piled to the rafters with all manner of junk. He’s facing foreclosure because there isn’t enough money to pay all the bills.

Joan has had several knee operations, which have forced her to use a walker, and she suffers near constant pain. She gets great comfort from the troop greetings but has to stifle the urge to cry as she bids farewell to the departing troops. The pain hits home for her as she tells about her two grandchildren slated to leave for war, so she tries to save her tears for the happy occasion of homecoming.

Jerry suffers from unexplained heart troubles, which his dedication to his task sometimes aggravates. He lost his 10-year-old son suddenly years ago, and the loss heightens his feelings for the parents of troops who don’t return. His constant companion is Flannagan, his dog, who accompanies him to the airport and waits and watches for planes with him.

It’s a sad day when he has to take the elderly dog to be put down, and even though he tries to justify it to himself, viewers likely will tear up with him as he talks about his pal.

Bill and Jerry are both veterans. They offer stories of their service when asked and accept the thanks of troops in return. It’s mutual admiration. The greeters operate out of a little storefront in the airport, stocking candy and cookies and offering free use of cell phones to the soldiers so they can contact their families. Joan keeps track of the number of troops returned — and the number of dogs, too — on a white board.

You get the sense the trio’s duties as troop greeters are colored by their fears of becoming irrelevant and of no use to the world. Regardless of how they feel about these wars — or war in general — they treat the troops with the respect they feel for them. All three worry about the future, and as much as they would like to see all the troops come home and no more leave, viewers can imagine the emptiness in their lives when that day arrives.

Aron Gaudet said, "I knew it (the film) could be a way to show the everyday struggles of senior citizens and an inspirational story of how these three seniors use a simple handshake to change their lives and the lives of the 900,000-plus troops they’ve greeted."

"The Way We Get By" will air on public television stations Wednesday, Veterans Day. Eight, KAET-TV, will air the documentary at 9 p.m. The program is flanked by "Arizona Stories: WWII," a two-part series. Part one will air at 7:30 and part two at 10:30, making it a Veterans Day prime time, accompanied by "Secrets of the Dead," a new show, at 8 and 11. The episode is called "Airmen and the Headhunters," the story of a crew of U.S. airmen shot down over Borneo during World War II.

Claudia Sherrill may be reached at csherrill@yourwestvalley.com or 623-876-2511.

VETERANS DAY EVENTS