Seeing a fallen soldier home

[Toro]

This is a couple months old, but I just had it sent to me.

Seeing a fallen soldier home

His name was Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Wilson - although I did not know it when his life brushed mine on March 25 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Lance Cpl. Wilson was not there in the terminal that afternoon; at age 24 and newly married, he had been killed in Afghanistan on March 22 by a roadside bomb. A coincidence of overbooked flights led our lives to intersect for perhaps an hour, one I will never forget.

I did not meet his family that day at the airport, either, although we were there together that evening at the gate, among the crowd hoping to board the oversold flight. I did not know that I had a boarding pass and they did not. I did not know they were trying to get home to hold his funeral, having journeyed to Dover, Del., to meet his casket upon its arrival from Afghanistan.

It began simply enough, with the usual call for volunteers: Anyone willing to take a later flight would receive a $500 flight voucher. Then came the announcement none of us was prepared to hear. There was, the airline representative said, a family on their way home from meeting their son's body as it returned from Afghanistan, and they needed seats on the flight. And there they were, standing beside her, looking at us, waiting to see what we would decide. It wasn't a hard decision for me; my plans were easily adjusted. I volunteered, as did two women whom I later learned sacrificed important personal plans.

But we three were not enough: Six were needed. So we stood there watching the family - dignified and mute, weighed with grief and fatigue - as the airline representative repeatedly called for assistance for this dead soldier's family. No one else stepped forward. The calls for volunteers may have lasted only 20 or 30 minutes, but it seemed hours. It was almost unbearable to watch, yet to look away was to see the more than 100 other witnesses to this tragedy who were not moved to help. Then it did become unbearable when, in a voice laced with desperation and tears, the airline representative pleaded, "This young man gave his life for our country, can't any of you give your seats so his family can get home?" Those words hung in the air. Finally, enough volunteers stepped forward.

I had trouble sleeping that night; I could not get out of my mind the image of the family or the voice pleading for them.When I met my fellow volunteers the next morning at the airport, I found I was not alone. One had gone home and cried, and another had awakened at 3 a.m.; all of us were angry and ashamed that our fellow passengers had not rushed to aid this soldier's family and consequently had forced them to be on public display in their grief. We worried that this indifference to their son's sacrifice added to their sorrow.

There is more to the article where the author does a good job following up with Lance Cpl. Wilson's parents, but this first half just blows me away. What in the world in your life could be so important that you can't give up your seat to a family who is trying to get home to their son's funeral?

This showcases what is wrong with people these days. It's too bad there aren't more folks out there like the author.

[slacker]

It just proves that so few in America are actually fighting the war. Outside of the military or a military families, so few are effected daily.

[M2]

Well, the flip side to those kinds of stories is this...

• Marine gets hero's welcome from thousands in Jacksonville
  
• Tyler Southern celebrates 21st birthday with family, and old and new friends
  
• More pictures from the above stories
  

I grew up in Jacksonville, a redneck Navy town in NE Florida, after my Dad retired from the Army. I joined the USAF after high school to get away from the place, and honestly have never any desire to move back there; but I have to say I am quite proud of its residents for everything they did for Cpl. Tyler Southern!

This doesn't diminish the embarrassment that occurred at Reagan National, the airline should have the authority to remove passengers to make room for such an emergency. Well, that should never have to happen in the first place; but there are still too many Americans that don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone but themselves, or appreciate the sacrifices of others!

And if the airline doesn’t want the job of removing people from its planes in such circumstances, I am sure there are many of us who are willing to do it for them!

Cheers! M2

[afnav]

Good story, and a good reminder of what counts, Toro.

[Guest Hueypilot812]

It just proves that so few in America are actually fighting the war. Outside of the military or a military families, so few are effected daily.

For most Americans, the war is nothing more than a political topic.

[JarheadBoom]

January 2007, Ramadi, Iraq:

Replace "Marine Corps" with the branch of service of your choice - it's still true today.

[GrndPndr]

It's still is different than it used to be (and a good thing). My oldest Son is just finishing his AD requirement for the Marine Corps. And, my youngest is heading for Paris Island in a couple of months. When I am with them, and folks find out what they're up to, they get tons of respect and thanks.

I only have profanity for the cowards at the airport in the story - so I'll just leave it right there.

FM

[Learjetter]

Having carried too many of the fallen out of OIF / OEF... I can only say I thank God I never witnessed a scene like what was described above....every mission was treated with the utmost respect by the receiving ground crew and even neighboring aircraft crews would line up and salute when the fallen were transloaded. Wish there were fewer of those in the logbook...and more folks like the author of the story above.

[DFRESH]

I gotta think the airline wouldn't let any passengers that were actively bleeding from their faces onto the airplane. Maybe a couple of first class passengers needed some bloody noses.

[osulax05]

For most Americans, the war is nothing more than a political topic.

This

[LJDRVR]

I'm kind of happy I wasn't working that one. I'm pretty sure I could have commandeered the gate PA and had some volunteers rather quickly. I'm also pretty sure it would have got me fired.

[BQZip01]

UFB

[BolterKing]

Just goes to show that supporting the military in this country only goes so far as words for most people, right up until it impacts their personal plans.

If I'm the Captain of that flight, I'm getting on the P.A. and telling the other 100 assholes that I'm not moving the plane until everyone on that family has a seat.

Edited August 25, 2010 by BolterKing

[Royal]

"Larry, don't you even think abouts givin up our seats. If I don't get back to watch all those re-runs of Becker I recorded with the DVR in our double-wide, you ain't gunna hear the end of it! Plus I got 15 pounds of left over potato salad that needs eatin; it might go bad if we ain't home 12 hours early!"

If the article said that the agent at the counter had to ask twice, that would've been enough to piss me off. The fact that she had to plead for over 30 minutes is beyond shameful. I hope all those chode mongers who never thought of volunteering are pleased with themselves. Nothing like scrubbing your conscience with a tub of Ben & Jerry's laced with some reality TV.

Here's to the soldier's family.