Back in October 2013, I boarded a flight that I wasn’t originally supposed to be on. I wasn’t feeling well and so I postponed my flight by a day. Little did I know then that because of this change, I would end up on what would turn into the most emotional flight of my life. It’s now 12 years later and still, I think of this flight often, but especially on Veteran’s Day. Here’s what made it so emotional. RELATED: Travel Tip: Give Your Upgrade to a Soldier
Delta Flight 2255 from Atlanta to Los Angeles seemed to be an ordinary flight with the exception of Candy, who was the most loving flight attendant I’ve ever encountered. Besides using her southern charm to quickly defuse every situation, she began her welcome announcement by thanking the handful of uniformed soldiers on-board for serving our country. Her poignant message was followed by applause and put into perspective that none of us would be able to do what we do if it weren’t for these brave men and women.
RELATED: 48 Ways to Honor a Veteran For Their Service On Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day
But this transcontinental flight turned out to be everything but ordinary. We later learned, when the captain got on the PA system about 45 minutes prior to landing, that we were transporting a fallen soldier. The plane went quiet as he explained that there was a military escort on-board and asked that everyone remain seated for a couple of minutes so the soldiers could get off first. He also warned us not to be alarmed if we saw fire trucks since Los Angeles greets their fallen military with a water cannon salute. See the video of this extraordinary experience below.
A few minutes after touchdown, we did indeed have a water cannon salute, which I’d previously only experienced on happy occasions like inaugural flights. This time, the water glistening on the windowpanes looked like tears.
Passengers in the airport must have been worried when they saw our plane pull into gate 69A, as we had a full police and fire escort, front and back.
I was on the left side of the plane and later realized that the family could be seen off to the right, standing with the United States Army Honor Guard. According to Wikipedia, each military branch has its own honor guard, usually military in nature, and is composed of volunteers who are carefully screened. One of the primary roles of honor guards is to provide funeral honors for fallen comrades.
When the jet door opened, another military officer addressed the escort who was standing at attention. He then stepped on the plane and told us passengers, “I just addressed the escort. It is a sworn oath to bring home, to the family, the fallen.” He paused and then said, “Today you all did that, you are all escorts, escorts of the heart.” He then thanked us for our time and walked off the plane.
As you can imagine, everyone was silent and no one got up, not even that person from the back row who always tries to be the first off the plane. I’m sure that most had meteor-sized lumps in their throats and tears in their eyes like I did.
It only got more emotional when I deplaned. There were many passengers, who are normally in a hurry to get home or make a connection, standing by the window to witness something truly moving. To see the Honor Guard and family waiting, while LAX baggage handlers and a military loadmaster removed the flag-covered casket first from the cargo hold, was humbling to say the least. I’m not sure if it was the fallen soldier’s mother or wife who I watched slowly approach the coffin while a few other family members, wrapped in blankets, stood near with a dozen or so of the Honor Guards standing in salute.
As soon as I saw her reach out to put her hand on her baby’s casket, I walked away.
This ordinary flight became extraordinary and is one that I will never forget.
JOHNNY’S NOTE: I had no idea this story and video would strike a chord with so many people. I’ve received literally thousands of comments and emails but one of the most impactful was the one left on Yahoo from reader Indiana Joan. She said:
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Thank you so much for posting this. It’s important to remember the price of our freedom. Keeping all those who serve and their families in my thoughts and prayers today and everyday. Thank you for your service. I’ve got a lot of friends and family in the military and they don’t hear it enough.
Thanks for sharing, that is a special trip. I watched the movie Taking Chance a few years ago. Kevin Bacon is the military escort for a fallen soldier. I’ve never cried that much through a movie, very well done and extremely moving.
I too have watched “Taking Chance”. It was so very powerful. This 63-year-old man had a lot of tears streaming down his face, wishing that more honor and respect were present in our society.
MAY YOU R.I.P. MY FRIEND, R,I,P.
What a powerful tribute. Thank you so much for sharing. I think I would’ve walked away at the same time as you. I’m getting tears just by reading this, let alone what I’d do if I were present in that situation.
Thank you for sharing. Tears.
So sad. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thanks for sharing this. Reminds me what’s most important in life–and getting off the plane first isn’t in that category. You wrote a wonderful tribute!
Such a beautiful and poignant tribute to a fallen soldier. The whole homecoming was done with such dignity by both Delta and the military escort. And for the passengers to be thanked by the military escort for acting as this soldiers escorts was very special. Johnny, Thank you for sharing this very special experience, Kristin
your poignant story will be remembered always; I cried all the way through reading it
so did I
Literally I was moved to tears
Glad to know I wasn’t the only one to cry through the whole article. Very sad for the family.
Wow. Thank you for sharing this moving post and video. Thank you to all of our military men and women for your service.
Just got goosebumps here sitting in my office. Thank you for the reminder that everything we do on a daily basis is made possible by the bravery and heroism of our country’s military. United we stand.
That truly brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks for sharing, this was very touching, and yes while reading I felt a lump in my throat and was choking up.
It is true about the fallen soldiers being treated lik cargo. My Brother was killed in Viet Nam in 1968 I I remember how upset I was when they unloaded his casket with a fork lift wrong. I went nuts..
Hello Gary – I can sympathize with what you wrote. At the time of the Viet Nam “conflict” I was still in high school, but let me tell you that I was not ignorant as to what was going on. Let’s put it this way – you wouldn’t have wanted to be around our dinner table as I was very vocal about the way the Soldiers were being treated. My own father was a WWII vet who never spoke of what he saw. My husband of 40+ years is a Viet Nam Era Vet, a Desert Shield/Storm vet and by his own admission, upon his return from Desert Shield/Storm, he was embarrassed by the reaction of the community because he remembered what it was like for the service members on their return from Viet Nam. To him he was fulfilling his commitment. He has since retired from the U.S. Army but I’m sure if he was given the opportunity, he wouldn’t think twice about returning to active duty. He is all about commitment and I am so proud of him. We both know that because of his age (he’s 66), this will never happen.
I am happier now today with the way our Veterans are greeted but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about why some of them are returning from an action that I don’t necessarily agree with. I will honor my father’s memory (he has since passed) and my husband’s commitment to our country, and I will not besmirch the memory of any service member who has given the ultimate. I cry when I think about these men and women and the lives they have affected by their ultimate sacrifice. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I support our Service Members but I don’t necessarily agree with the current political/military actions. I just wish they would all come home.
Thank you for listening to me rant. I wish you all the best.
I agree and after 45 years I still live those days and weeks after he died every day, it is crazy but it never goes away. .
What a coincidence, I was just looking at my Brothers medals today, your husband must be a special person. All service men that served in combat have so much inside, they never want to talk about it. My uncle who was a machine gunner on a tank in Germany never talked about it until just before he passed away as if he wanted me to remember how bad it was.
Yes I agree he will return if he could. I spent 40 in the army and did not want to leave at age 60 but they have a rule called MDR 60 which means when you turn 60 you have to retire. Thank your man for his service and tell him I am with him in heart. SFC 57/97
Thank you for your kind words. I have shared your message with my husband. We wish you well
That was no rant Ma’am. My deepest respects.
I just finished reading KILLING PATTON by Bill O’reilly and his helper in writing it.
I was nine years old when WORLD WAR II ended. i was a motherless child, raised by an elderly father who was janitor and I had one brother three years older.
As I read this book and saw some mighty gruesome details and “body parts”, as some of the soldiers were blown apart, and how difficult it was for our soldiers to fight in the ARDENNE forest in the dead of winter for Bastogne, I could not help but remember how poor we were, (which at the time, I did not THINK “poor”, because I did not know or realize we were.My mother died when I was five in the year 1941.
I lived a rather HAPPY POOR CHILDHOOD, with the wonderful love of a loving father and brother.
However, after I finished reading the book, my heart was heavy with the grief I felt for all those young men 19yrs on up, who LAID DOWN THEIR LIFE FOR ME SO THAT I COULD LIVE A HAPPY POOR LIFE! I then also thought of LORD JESUS CHRIST WHO ALSO LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FREELY FOR ME.
GOD BLESS EVERY SOLDIER WHO HAS EVER GONE TO WAR TO GIVE US OUR FREEDOMS. THERE ARE SO MANY OUT THERE WHO DO NOT REALIZE THE SACRIFICES, EVIL WAS COMING FOR US AND OUR SOLDIERS STOOD IN THE GAP TO “KEEP US FREE” TO BE HAPPY, SAD OR WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!
Thanx
Gene Murphy
USNavy Submarines
Watch the movie”Taking Chance” it is about taking a marine home and all the people involved. It is ver heart warming and you will cra a lot.
very good movie indeed. gets me all the time
every time taking chance is on i have to watch it
Excellent movie and the story above confirms how accurate it was.
That was an awesome story. I am former Army Honor Guard myself. I served at Arlington National Cemetery for three years, and had the privilege of getting to perform ceremonies for many fallen soldiers. I also went to Afghanistan and saw things from the other side as well. This is a story that should be on the front page of every newspaper and talk show across America. As terrible as it is to lose a fallen comrade it is a humbling and unforgettable experience to see the citizens of this country pay their respects. Thank you for sharing. I will most certainly pass this on.
Thank You for serving Jason Allen and God Bless!!
Thank you for your service. I love you!
Many Americans don’t give our military the respect they deserve. As you mentioned “without our military we would be nothing” I truly believe that. Thank you so much for bringing this story to light and thank you and all the other passengers on that flight for showing the respect deserved to the soldier who gave his life for our country but most of all THANK YOU to the fallen soldier and so many others who gave their lives and continue to fight for our country.
I think you do a disservice to “many Americans” when you fail to distinguish between supporting our soldiers and support the wars and military interventions in which they serve. There is a huge difference between rejecting elements of U.S. foreign policy and military intervention and disrespecting servicemen and servicewomen and it’s a shame that so many ill-considered attitudes and comments like yours conflate the two.
That’s right. And there’s an element of gross hypocrisy about the position of so many ultra-conservatives, who exploit service men and women and their families to defend US aggression but stab them in the back when they think nobody’s looking: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/20/1240183/-Republican-bill-would-kick-170-000-veterans-off-of-food-stamps#
Oh, yes, Daily Kos is SUCH a credible source on conservatism!
When you have no facts or information to make your argument with , an unsupoorted ad hominem attack on the other side is always the clueless right’s fall back – as you just proved. Its just your bad luck that there are plenty of other sources for the same information. So easy to find in fact that even you could have found it had you bothered to look. Or is Military.com too commie for ya too? http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/10/29/nearly-1-million-vets-face-food-stamps-cut.html. Or how about those Muslim freeloaders over at Forbes – The Capitalist Tool: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/10/30/mistreating-the-military-nearly-one-million-veterans-to-suffer-the-pain-of-food-stamp-cutbacks/ Its that easy But of course you don’t care whether vets starve or not. You’re just in it for the cheap empty posturing, ain’cha?
@Nick, The only time I feel exploited and disrespected is when leftwingnuts pop up on websites with a load of patronizing, disingenuous crap.
I wonder how many O’Bummer Democraps were on board to be really pissed off at the delays?
please grow up and leave your small mindedness behind on such a moving moment.
thank you
what a small and unfortunate person you must be.
thank you
*Is* that what you got out of this eyewitness account?!
thank you
What is the fallen soldier’s name?
We never found out.
For a truly moving Hollywood expression of the dignity given a fallen hero, please make an effort to see the movie, “Taking Chance”, starring Kevin Bacon as Lt. Col. Michael Strobl. Col. Strobl volunteered to escort the remains of Chance Phelps home. He began his journey at the Dover Port Mortuary at the Dover Air Force base.
The movie follows PFC Phelps from his arrival at Dover to his funeral in his hometown in Wyoming.
The movie showed the dignity they deserve given to our fallen heroes. You will be moved after watching this tribute.