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This story was corrected on Nov. 18, 2009. An explanation of the correction is at the end of the story.

When Theresa Babicki's youngest son joined the Air Force in 2008, the Poolesville mother of four started a private blog to chronicle her thoughts. What started as a personal journal became a public outlet for herself, soldiers and their families, and connected her to a network of volunteers dedicated to giving back to members of the military.

On Babicki's blog, airmanmom.blogspot.com, she writes about fallen soldiers, military news and nonprofits, and posts articles submitted by soldiers and their family members she meets online. She decided to make her personal blog public a few months after she started it after reading other blogs written by military mothers.

"I thought, ‘These other moms out there, they have something to say that I want to read so maybe someone will want to read what I wrote,'" said Babicki, who has two sons in the Air Force.

Her oldest son, Brendan, 27, who enlisted in 1999, has been deployed about six times to countries that include Saudi Arabia and is stationed in Utah. Her youngest son, John, 20, is stationed in Ohio and has not been deployed. Neither has been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

"I have more respect now for not only soldiers but for their families. I'm more grateful for the freedoms we have and that they didn't come without a high cost," said Babicki, who works at Good Earth Garden Market in Potomac, which will have boxes out over the holiday season so shoppers can donate personal items such as toiletries and nonperishable snacks that will be sent to troops overseas. "You think of how many die over there and you just hope and pray that your son comes home."

One of the people Babicki met was Spc. Dan Sharon of Illinois, an 11-year member of the National Guard who returned from his first tour in Afghanistan in August. She contacted Sharon a year ago through his blog, which is now private, and they began a correspondence.

"She took a maternal interest in me," said Sharon, 31, adding that Babicki often sent care packages. "...It always kept me in candy for the kids. The only thing I can compare it to is a kid at Christmas when mail call comes around and you have tons of packages waiting. The military is like hippies with guns — we live very communally. Whenever you have something you share it with your bunkmates or with the Afghanis."

Inspired by her sons, Babicki provides motherly support to other soldiers through nonprofits serving members of the military. She participates in the California-based nonprofit Soldiers' Angels and sends six to 12 care packages a month filled with gifts, supplies and letters to soldiers deployed overseas. She also greets soldiers returning from overseas about twice a month as a volunteer with Operation Welcome Home Maryland.

"It's really moving," Babicki said as she waited in the terminal at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport with about 100 other volunteers and family members of returning servicemen and women Nov. 6. "You see these people come out those doors and you just want to shake their hands. I'm just happy this will help us prevent another Vietnam — how badly the returning soldiers were treated."

The volunteers cheered as each member of the military walked into the terminal and shook their hands as they walked through a receiving line set up by Operation Welcome Home. Volunteers gave out bags with snacks, cards and other items as patriotic music played.

Operation Welcome Home volunteers have greeted 34,000 military members at BWI this year, team leader Barbara Flanagan said.

"It's so uplifting. The troops don't expect it and they come through the door with such big smiles on their faces," said Flanagan of Sykesville, whose son served in Afghanistan. "... We've had soldiers say, ‘This is my third deployment and I don't have any family here, but you guys were like my family.'"

Correction: A previous version of the this story incorrectly stated that Theresa Babicki works at the Good Earth Garden Market in Olney. She works at the store's Potomac location.