Saturday, July 28, 2012

An Email sent to me. 7/28/2012

My Daughter, Debbie, sent me an E-Mail the other day.  Her words about that E-Mail were:
"Boss thought you would like this. he is crying :("

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Many thanks to the airline captain for this beautiful and touching story.

    He   writes: My lead flight attendant came to me and  said, "We  have an H.R. on this flight."  (H.R. stands for human remains.) "Are they military?" I  asked. 

      'Yes',   she said.
      'Is there an escort?' I asked.
      'Yes, I already assigned him a seat'. 
      'Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck. You  can board him  early," I said.. 
      A   short while later, a young army sergeant entered the  flight deck.  He was the image of the  perfectly  dressed soldier.    He introduced himself and  I asked him about his  soldier.  The escorts of  these fallen soldiers talk about  them as if they are  still alive and still with us.  

      'My   soldier is on his way back to  Virginia ', he said.  He  proceeded to answer my questions,  but offered no words on his  own.. 

      I   asked him if there was anything I could do for him and  he said  no.  I told him that he had the toughest  job in  the  military and that I appreciated the  work that he does for the  families of our fallen  soldiers. The first officer and I got up  out of our  seats to shake his hand.  He left the flight deck to find his seat.

      We   completed our preflight checks, pushed back and   performed an  uneventful departure.  About  30 minutes into our flight I  received a call from the  lead flight attendant in the cabin. 'I  just found out  the family of the soldier we are carrying, is on   board', he said.  He then proceeded to tell me  that the  father, mother, wife and 2 - year old daughter  were escorting their  son, husband, and father home.    The family was upset  because they were  unable to see the container that the soldier was  in  before we left.  We were on our way to a major hub at   which the family was going to wait four hours for the  connecting  flight home to Virginia ..

      The   father of the soldier told the flight attendant that  knowing his  son was below him in the cargo compartment  and being unable to see  him was too much for him and  the family to bear.  He had  asked the flight  attendant if there  was anything that could  be  done to allow them to see him upon our arrival. The family   wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the  soldier  being taken off the airplane.. I could hear  the desperation in the  flight attendants voice when he  asked me if there was anything I  could do.. 'I'm on  it', I said. I told him that I would get back  to him. 

      Airborne   communication with my company normally occurs in the  form of  e - mail like messages.  I decided to  bypass this system and  contact my flight dispatcher  directly on a secondary radio. There  is a radio  operator in the operations  control center who   connects you to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was  in direct  contact with the dispatcher..  I  explained the situation I had  on board with the family  and what it was the family wanted.   He said he  understood and that he would get back to me.  

      Two   hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher.   We  were going to get busy soon and I needed to  know what to tell the  family.  I sent a text  message asking for an update.  I  saved the return  message from the dispatcher and this following is  the  text:

      'Captain,   sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There  is policy on  this now and I had to check on a few  things. Upon your arrival a  dedicated escort team will  meet the aircraft.  The team will  escort the  family to the ramp and plane side.  A van will be   used to load the remains with a secondary van for the   family.  The family will be taken to their  departure area and  escorted into the terminal where  the remains can be seen on the  ramp.  It is a  private area for the family only.  When  the  connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted  onto  the ramp and plane side to watch the remains  being loaded for the  final leg home.  Captain, most of us here in flight control  are veterans.    Please pass our condolences on to the  family.  Thanks.'

      I   sent a message back telling flight control thanks for  a good job.   I printed out the message and gave  it to the lead flight  attendant to pass on to the  father.  The lead flight  attendant was very  thankful and told me, 'You  have no idea  how much  this will mean to them.'

      Things   started getting busy for the descent, approach and  landing.   After landing, we cleared the runway  and taxied to the ramp  area.  The ramp is huge  with 15 gates on either side of the  alleyway.  It  is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering  every  which way to enter and exit.  When we entered the ramp   and checked in with the ramp controller,  we were  told that  all traffic was being held for us.. 

      'There   is a team in place to meet the  aircraft', we  were  told.  It looked like it was all coming  together, then I  realized that once we turned the  seat belt sign off,  everyone would stand up at  once and  delay the family from  getting off the  airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the   copilot to tell the ramp  controller we were  going to stop  short of the gate to make an  announcement to the passengers.   He did that and  the ramp controller said, 'Take your time.'  

      I   stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake.   I pushed the  public address button and said,  'Ladies and gentleman, this is  your Captain speaking I  have stopped short of our gate to make a  special  announcement.  We have a passenger on board who   deserves our honor and respect.  His Name is  Private XXXXXX,  a soldier who recently lost his life.   Private XXXXXX is  under your feet in the cargo  hold.  Escorting him today is  Army Sergeant  XXXXXXX..  Also, on board are his father,  mother,  wife, and daughter.  Your entire  flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their seats to  allow the  family to exit the aircraft first. Thank   you.' 

      We   continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and  started our  shutdown procedures.  A couple of  minutes later I   opened the cockpit door.  I  found the two forward flight  attendants crying,  something you just do not see.  I was told  that  after we came to a stop, every passenger on the aircraft   stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit  the  aircraft.

      When   the family got up and gathered their things, a  passenger slowly  started to clap his hands..   Moments later more passengers  joined in and soon  the entire aircraft was clapping.  Words  of 'God  Bless You', I'm sorry, thank you, be proud, and other kind   words were uttered to the family as they made their  way down the  aisle and out of the airplane.  They  were escorted down to  the ramp to finally be with  their loved one. 

      Many   of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the  announcement I  had made.  They were just words, I  told them,  I could  say them over and over again,  but nothing I say will bring back  that brave soldier. 

      I   respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event  and the  sacrifices that millions of our men and women  have made to ensure  our freedom and safety in these United  States of AMERICA . 

    Footnote:
     As a Veteran I can only think of all the veterans  including the  ones that rode below the deck on their way home and how they  we were treated. When I read things like this I am proud  that our country has not turned their backs on our soldiers  returning from the various war zones today and give  them the respect they so  deserve.

        I know every veteran who reads  this will have tears in their eyes Including  me.
    You don't have to be a Vet to have tears in your eyes while reading this. Thank You to all who have served and are still serving.  A Grateful Nation. God Bless the USA .

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My words back to her were:
Debbie,
Your boss was correct. My family, for all their faults, has a history of military service.  One of my Grandfathers (My Mom's Dad) fought in the Spanish American War and spent time in the Philippines in 1900. I have copies of his hand written letters he wrote to the V.A. concerning his pension. I was named after him. He died before my parents even married. My other Grandfather had 5 kids when World War II started. He lied to the Army to serve during WWII. It was a hell of a way to treat my Grandmother but he felt he had to serve.  The funny part, years later, right before I married my first wife, Mary, her Dad ask me if I knew "Lon Massengill" and I told him "Know him, he's my Grandfather"  My first Father In Law was the only person I ever met that KNEW my Grandfather other than my Father's family....It was an odd sort of thing that only happens once in a lifetime.  I never met either of my Grandfather's but I carried a need to do a duty for my Country.  Any of us that served could have been in that CMH (Casket, Metal, with Handles) in the cargo hold of that aircraft but only by the Grace of God did I return Home in one piece.  Freedom is not free. All gave some, Some gave all.  It is these great heroes that this country is built on.

Thank you and LOVE YOU
Johnny

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To add to what I wrote to Debbie.....My son now serves with the U.S. Air Force and he too has been to war in Iraq, my time in the First Gulf war was a cakewalk compared to his time in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has told me of things he saw that far and away outstrip ANYTHING I saw during any of the time I spent overseas, however, we both came away with a few of the same quirks. Neither of us likes to be in crowds.  When we got off the train in Rome, Italy in 2009 we both remarked about the mass amounts of people in the train station. Neither of us enjoyed the crowd but we lived! I am very proud of his service! (During that service, you tend to think you've done nothing special but afterwards when you look back at your service, you realize how much you gave of yourself and how much you COULD HAVE given of yourself but weren't ask give way back when)

A "CMH" usually means "Congressional Medal of Honor" to someone in the military, however, in the book "Once a Warrior King" by David Donovan (pseudomym of Terry Turner, Phd  and brother in arms) "CMH" talked about the metal caskets used to ship home the remains of service members.  If you are into military books, Once a Warrior King is well worth a read!


In speaking to my First Father in Law that day almost 30 years ago, I told RB what happened to Lon and how he had run off from my Grandmother.....he then said "I always wondered what happened to him"  For as much as I didn't know about Lon Massengill, I felt that day like I touched essence that was my Grandfather.  I got the same feelings when I opened my Aunt Trula's family Bible and saw John H. Munsey's handwriting for the first time. To KNOW that his hand had touched the page my hand was on caused me to make a mental connection to the person I'm named after. It was a special time for me that day. 

For as hard as it is to remember, some days, it is good to be reminded Freedom isn't Free at all.  If you live in a free country in this wide world, someone, somewhere spilled some blood along the way or gave up their innocence seeing things the average civilian never sees in a lifetime. 


Thanks Debbie! 


J.





 

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