Posted on 11/02/2003 11:08:38 AM PST by Trident/Delta
The writer and his wife live in LA and both work for Uncle Sam.
A Day at Baltimore Airport
Dear Friends and Family,
I hope that you will spare me a few minutes of your time to tell you about something that I saw on Monday, October 27.
I had been attending a conference in Annapolis and was coming home on Sunday. As you may recall, Los Angeles International Airport was closed
on Sunday, October 26, because of the fires that affected air traffic control. Accordingly, my flight, and many others, were canceled and I wound up spending a night in Baltimore.
My story begins the next day. When I went to check in at the United counter Monday morning I saw a lot of soldiers home from Iraq. Most were very young and all had on their desert camouflage uniforms. This was as change from earlier, when they had to buy civilian clothes in Kuwait to fly home. It was a visible reminder that we are in a war. It probably was pretty close to what train terminals were like in World War II.
Many people were stopping the troops to talk to them, asking them questions in the Starbucks line or just saying "Welcome Home." In addition to all the flights that had been canceled on Sunday, the weather was terrible in Baltimore and the flights were backed up. So, there were a lot of unhappy people in the terminal trying to get home, but nobody that I saw gave the soldiers a bad time.
By the afternoon, one plane to Denver had been delayed several hours. United personnel kept asking for volunteers to give up their seats and take another flight. They weren't getting many takers.
Finally, a United spokeswoman got on the PA and said this, "Folks. As you can see, there are a lot of soldiers in the waiting area. They only have 14 days of leave and we're trying to get them where they need to go without spending any more time in an airport then they have to. We sold them all tickets, knowing we would oversell the flight. If we can, we want to get them all on this flight. We want all the soldiers to know that we respect what you're doing, we are here for you and we love you."
At that, the entire terminal of cranky, tired, travel-weary people, a cross-section of America, broke into sustained and heartfelt applause. The soldiers looked surprised and very modest. Most of them just looked at their boots. Many of us were wiping away tears.
And, yes, people lined up to take the later flight and all the soldiers went to Denver on that flight.
That little moment made me proud to be an American, and also told me why we will win this war.
If you want to send my little story on to your friends and family, feel free. This is not some urban legend. I was there, I was part of it, I saw it happen.
Will Ross
Administrative Judge
United States Department of Defense
Why did you mess-up such a good article by adding the f word?
We're all Freepers here, so you don't have to blank it out. Here, I'll do it for ya.
Semper Freeping Fi!!
: )
Years ago I was on leave in Rhode Island when my father died back home in California. After a 45 minute bus ride to Boston, I approached the airline check-in counter.
I said, "I'm on emergency leave, I need to get home to California, and I have a Red Cross check to pay my fare."
The lady behind the counter picked up the phone and requested that the flight be halted so that I could board. The plane was already pulled back from the terminal. A set of stairs was wheeled up to the plane and I was escorted to the stairs. My bag was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs and I carried it onto the plane.
I had enough on my mind at that time and I have always appreciated the immediate and unquestioning way in which I was treated that day.
Weary Travelers Support Operation Iraqi Freedom Troops at BWI (A Day at the Baltimore Airport)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.