Recently, after my wife and I saw our No. 2 son off to Iraq after his mid-deployment leave, I wrote a column (published in the Post-Gazette Sunday) about how airport security has made a shambles of the traditional farewell. I described how we stood on tiptoes at the entrance to the security checkpoint to catch a glimpse of our son as he hoisted his pack onto the conveyor belt, disappeared to take off his boots and then reappeared on the far side of the metal detector, now too far away for all but a token wave. It was all very unsatisfying.

I noted how most of the good bars and restaurants are past the security checkpoint, and how I would have liked to buy my son a beer, the last one he was going to have for a year, and then see him off at his gate.

Since the column was published, I've received a lot of e-mails from people commiserating with me, including parents of service members who have had the same experience. I also received a smaller number of e-mails, including one from the Transportation Security Administration, saying that the families of service members can get a pass from airline ticket counters allowing them to accompany loved ones to the gates.

I'm happy to be wrong. But I've never seen a sign or notice to this effect. And no airline agent, checking in one of my sons in camouflage, clearly accompanied by his parents, ever suggested, "Let me fix it so you can go to the gate with him." The information is on the TSA Web site, but it's not easy to find.

Now that we know this, I urge all the families of arriving and departing members of the military to get passes and go to the gates for decent farewells and welcome-homes.

As a family, we've got two tours of Iraq under our belt, and since both of our sons are planning on making careers of the military, we've undoubtedly got more partings ahead of us. A couple of beers would help.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers does "Rob's Rough," an early look at his work and his creative process, exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.