TulsaInternational Airport Offers
Hospitality to Military Personnel
A lounge just for military personnel and military veterans, equipped with Internet computers, television and other comforts, is now available at Tulsa International Airport.
Mayor Kathy Taylor and Tulsa International Airport Director Jeff Mulder, officially opened the Military & Veterans Resource Lounge in ceremonies during the Holidays. Creation of the new lounge is one of several initiatives that have come about in recent months since the creation of the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Veterans Affairs. It was a project overseen by Matt Stiner, a mayoral staff member who is the liason with the veterans council.
The lounge will serve personnel in all branches of the military – active duty, National Guard, reserve, retirees, veterans and authorized family members. Families of qualified users can also obtain security passes from Transportation Security Administration officials so that they can wait in the lounge with their veteran or active duty service members until their flights depart.
Private donors have provided furniture, equipment and décor for the lounge. Cox Communications is donating free extended basic cable to the veterans lounge, and the Airport Radisson Inn is giving a room free of charge and hot meal to any servicemen or servicewomen who are stranded at Tulsa International. Tulsa International Airport gave the lounge a fresh coat of paint and new carpet, and has posted signs throughout the airport with directions to the lounge. Besides providing relaxation, the lounge also will have information available about services for military personnel and veterans in the City of Tulsa.
“This will be a gathering spot, a clearinghouse for information and a stop along the way to pick up brochures and fliers about programs and events that service members and veterans can take advantage of – whether they live in Tulsa or are visiting our city,” Mayor Taylor said. “I appreciate the private donors who have ensured the lounge is a comfortable place to rest between flights and is equipped for access to news, information, and technology for those arriving for a stay in Tulsa. This military lounge is a symbol of Tulsa’s gratitude to those who have unselfishly given themselves in service for this nation.”
Donated amenities at the lounge include a 37-inch flat screen television, 17 comfortable chairs, two coffee tables, one sofa, and three work stations complete with two computers, two printers, three phones, and free wireless internet access. Java Dave’s will provide coffee to those who use the lounge.
Donors to the lounge include Air Force veteran and President/CEO of L & M Office Furniture Gordon Marshall and his wife, Cari – furniture and design work; the Abagnale family – computers and printers; Navy veteran and former president of Exxon Middle East Jack Crutchfield and his wife, Ledlie – the flat screen television; and State Rep. Lucky Lamons – one 6-foot-by-4-foot American flag, one 6-foot-by-4-foot Oklahoma flag, smaller flags of the branches of service, and one POW flag. Linda Cupps, a photographer and mother of a Marine, has donated wall artwork: photos of Tulsa locations for Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and the Veterans Memorial across from Veterans Park.
The lounge demonstrates Tulsa’s pride in its service members and veterans by welcoming them home, seeing them off and ensuring they know what Tulsa has to offer.
The lounge is located in Terminal A beyond the security checkpoint, just north of Gate 20. It will be open daily from 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., or until arrival of the last evening flight.