Back in October 2013, I boarded a Delta Air Lines flight that I wasn’t originally supposed to be on. I hadn’t been feeling well, so I postponed my flight by a day. Little did I know that this simple change of plans would put me on what would become the most emotional flight of my life. It’s now 13 years later and I still think about that experience often, especially around Veterans Day. Here’s what made this flight so unforgettable.
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Delta Flight 2255 from Atlanta to Los Angeles seemed like an ordinary flight, with the exception of Candy, who was one of the most loving flight attendants I’ve ever encountered. Besides using her Southern charm to quickly defuse just about any situation, she began her welcome announcement by thanking the handful of uniformed service members on board for serving our country. Her heartfelt message was followed by applause from the passengers and served as a reminder that so many of the freedoms we enjoy are made possible by the sacrifices of the brave men and women who serve.
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But this transcontinental flight turned out to be anything but ordinary. About 45 minutes before landing, the captain came over the PA system and explained that we were transporting a fallen soldier home. There was a military escort on board and he asked everyone to remain seated for a few minutes after arriving at the gate so the military personnel could exit first. He also told us not to be alarmed if we saw fire trucks waiting for our arrival because Los Angeles would be honoring the fallen soldier with a water cannon salute. The cabin went quiet as everyone absorbed what he had just told us.
A few minutes after touchdown, we did indeed receive a water cannon salute, something I’d previously only experienced on happy occasions like inaugural flights. But this time was different. As the water streamed down the aircraft windows, it looked like tears. Passengers inside the airport must have wondered what was happening when they saw our plane pull into gate 69A with a full police and fire escort, both in front and behind the aircraft.
I was sitting on the left side of the plane and later realized that the fallen soldier’s family was waiting off to the right, along with members of the United States Army Honor Guard. These service members perform ceremonial duties, including providing military funeral honors for fallen comrades. Seeing the military personnel waiting alongside the family made the significance of our arrival even more apparent.
When the aircraft door opened, another military officer addressed the escort, who was standing at attention. The officer then stepped onto the plane and spoke to all of us passengers. He said, “I just addressed the escort. It is a sworn oath to bring home, to the family, the fallen.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Today you all did that, you are all escorts, escorts of the heart.” He 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 seems determined to be the first one off the plane. I’m sure most of us had meteor-sized lumps in our throats and tears in our eyes, just as I did. I’ve flown millions of miles over the years and experienced countless memorable moments in the air, but I had never experienced anything quite like this.
It only got more emotional when I deplaned. Instead of rushing to baggage claim or hurrying to catch connecting flights, many passengers stopped at the terminal windows to witness something truly moving. Outside, the Honor Guard and the fallen soldier’s family were waiting as LAX baggage handlers and military personnel carefully removed the flag-draped casket from the cargo hold. It was an incredibly humbling scene and one that I’ll never forget.
I watched as a woman, who I believe may have been the soldier’s mother or wife, slowly approached the casket. A few other family members stood nearby, wrapped in blankets, while members of the Honor Guard stood at attention. I couldn’t begin to imagine what that family was going through or how difficult it must have been to wait for their loved one to come home under such heartbreaking circumstances.
As soon as I saw the woman reach out and place her hand on the casket, I walked away.
That was more than I could bear to watch. Even today, 13 years later, I get emotional thinking about that moment and the extraordinary sacrifice that family made.
A flight I will never forget
What began as an ordinary flight became the most extraordinary flight of my life. I’ve traveled all over the world and taken thousands of flights, but this experience stands apart from all the others. It was a powerful reminder that behind every military uniform is a person with family and friends who love them, and that the sacrifices made by our service members affect far more people than we sometimes realize.
I’m grateful to the Delta crew, the military escort, the Honor Guard and everyone at LAX who helped ensure that this fallen soldier was brought home with the dignity and respect they deserved. I’m especially grateful to the men and women who serve our country and to the families who support them, often making sacrifices of their own.
Veterans Day is a time to recognize and thank all those who have served in the United States Armed Forces, while Memorial Day specifically honors those who died in military service. Although this experience involved a fallen soldier, it reminds me every Veterans Day of the courage, commitment and sacrifice of our military members and their families.
To all our veterans and active-duty service members, thank you for your service. And to the families who have lost loved ones while serving our country, please know that their sacrifices are not forgotten.
Thirteen years later, I can still hear that military officer’s words: “You are all escorts, escorts of the heart.” I’ll carry those words, and the memory of that flight, with me for the rest of my life.
Johnny’s note
When I first shared this story and video in 2013, I had no idea how many people it would touch. Over the years, I’ve received thousands of comments and emails from readers, including veterans, military families and people who have experienced similar homecomings. One of the most impactful was a comment left on Yahoo by a reader named Indiana Joan. Her words have stayed with me, just as this flight has.
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A wonderful tribute to one of our fallen brave soldiers! However, the individual who wrote this article is dishonorable by this unnecessary comment:
“As you can imagine, everyone was silent and no one got up, not even that person from the back row who pretends he doesn’t [understand] English so he can be first off the plane.” Who are you to presume that a person from the back row does not speak English? Did you speak to this person? How did you arrive at that conclusion.
As a former f.a. & an oft traveler, I have never encountered such a person. People like me have little tolerance for the intolerant and you punctuated this otherwise great show of respect to one of our own with your personal bigoted comment. Bev of Boston, MA
Bev, Get a life. Nobody cares what you have to say. Pretty pathetic that you have to come on here and make unnecessary comments. You are showing your bigoted self, nobody thought this, but you. Because of these patriots, you are able to throw your trash mouth out on the internet. God Bless them all!
Johnny:
The Airport Police Officer that boarded your flight and asked for your patience was Officer Tommy Dye USN (retired) Master Chief. He’s a member of the elite LAXPD Honor Guard and started the Fallen Soldier Detail at LAX. He’s truly a special person.
http://youtu.be/5ezbiUVNyLE
How heart rendering to all who have expressed these thoughts… I too recall the day my only brother’s flag draped casket… was unloaded and rolled off the plane for my Father and I to receive in Toledo, Ohio during Viet Nam conflict…it was on his 21st Birthday …We were duly presented his honorary awards and medals posthumously to myself and our parents ; at a soon after …later date by other military dignitaries via a special flight arrival arrangement to the Toledo International airport where the military officers thanked us for his bravery and service to our Country… Moving and forever a memory of gratitude…for a sister to experience this honor for him serving in a war soooo unpopular
Your piece had my hairs on the back of my neck go up…having a nephew in the armed services makes me hope his mom never has to go through this. But it is with them that we all breath freely. Service to the country with little expectation in return – something that our elected could learn from.
Very moving, but a far,far cry from the Vietnam War When returning from Vietnam in 1971 on an emergency flight due to the death of my father, I rode in the cargo hold of a C-5A. I was the lone passenger alive there. There were hundreds of caskets of needlessly fallen soldiers. When will we ever learn?
What an honor and privilege for you to have been on that flight. I am so thankful for the technology we have today which allows these stories to be shared. I felt some of what you felt – experiencing this through your article and video. THANK YOU for allowing me to imagine what it was like for you and the other passengers, and to reflect on this great nation and our many heroes out there protecting it for us.
nice story…but I experienced a better one….I was stationed in japan during the Vietnam war and when my rotation time came I was scheduled to depart from yokota ab near Tokyo. while waiting for my flight and announcement came over the pa that they needed a msgt with a top secret cryptographic clearance to volunteer to escort some crypto equipment back to the mainland. so saving about nine hours of time I volunteered for the job. when I boarded the cargo area of the C-141 aircraft I was amazed and saddened to see twenty caskets of fallen
soldiers stacked in the cargo area. it was truly a event I will never forget…..
Did you know Delta Air Lines has its own Honor Guard. They do an unbelievably great job honoring our Fallen Soldies everywhere they fly them and do nothing to advertize this. Everyone needs to watch this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_VGxfmDmEo
It is heartbreaking to realize their sacrifice is in vain and only benefits those in power. They are lured to their death by promises of honor that no longer exists in this age.
Let us not forget the one who are wounded in ways we can not see.
they are the ones who suffer in silence.
I haven’t cried like this in years. And I have to say that in your lifetime it will be very rare to see a love like Katherine had for her husband.
As a former employee of an airline that took them home from the theater, it was always an honor to be dispatch and plan those flights. God Speed to all and thank you!