Janet Dunn, of Lawrence, never dreamed she would meet the president. But on Monday, she did that and then some.

Dunn, a master sergeant in the Kansas Air National Guard, was among the first to greet President Bush as he stepped down from Air Force One after his arrival at Forbes Field in Topeka.

On the runway, Bush awarded her the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

“It was so fast,” Dunn said. “We shook hands. He said, ‘I’m proud of you for your volunteerism.’ I said ‘Thank you.’ We posed for a photographer. That was pretty much it.”

To commemorate the award, Bush gave her a lapel pin and a coin, she said.

Dunn volunteers with the Wing Family Program Office at Forbes Field Air Guard Station and acts as the liaison between the Wing Family Program Office and the 190th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Forbes Field.

Dunn has lived in Lawrence most of her life. For the last 12 years, she has worked as an information management specialist in the Air National Guard stationed at Forbes Field.

When Bush made his way to the ground, Dunn saluted him. She also scored a ride to Manhattan in the presidential motorcade. Her company in the vehicle included former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers and congressmen Jim Ryun, Dennis Moore and Jerry Moran.

Bush on Monday delivered the Landon Lecture and spoke for two hours to about 9,000 people at Kansas State University’s Bramlage Coliseum. After Dunn sat in the audience during the speech, she returned to Lawrence with family members.

She said the morning was exciting and that she had learned about her unanticipated honor on Thursday.

“It’s kind of humbling because you don’t expect anything in return when you volunteer for something,” Dunn said Monday evening after she had returned to Lawrence.

In her volunteer service, she supports military families while National Guard service members are deployed. During 2005, she organized the distribution of 100 personalized teddy bears to children of guardsmen and women who were on active duty.

Anyone who completes 100 or more hours of volunteer service is eligible for the award.

“It was very much worth it,” Dunn said. “It was very fast and not enough time to get over the awe of it.”