Posted on 07/13/2004 1:52:10 PM PDT by tdadams
Just saw this on the CNN scroll and haven't found a source on the web yet, but it's an inspiring story. If anyone has any more info, details, or a link, please post it.
On an American Airlines flight to Chicago, several soldiers were aboard coming home for R&R. Some of the passengers in the first class cabin noticed this and offered their seats to the soldiers. What a noble and thoughtful gesture. Three cheers to some good American patriots.
Cheers!
"Some of the passengers in the first class cabin noticed this and offered their seats to the soldiers. "
A big BRAVO to these good folks!
FoxNews had this story yesterday...
CNN is a little behind...
CNN probably hated to report it.
No, actually they are BIG ASSES!
Wow great story.
SOLDIERS LEARN NEW MEANING OF 'FIRST CLASS'
(FRISCO, July 11) -- A few passengers on a recent American Airlines flight gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "first class", when they gave returning R&R-bound U.S. soldiers an unexpected upgrade. "There are a couple of flights I'll remember forever, and this will always be one of them", recalls American flight attendant Lorrie Gammon.
On July 4, Gammon was on duty when 12 soldiers boarded her American flight from Atlanta to Chicago. They were on their way home from Iraq to begin 2 weeks of R&R. Suddenly, one of the first-class passengers stood up, took his boarding pass back to main cabin. Next thing, the entire first-class section of the plane stood up and gave their seats for the servicemen and women.
Gammon says she didn't know what to make of it at first. "They were almost afraid to take their seats and were trying to give them back, and the businessmen were like, 'No, you guys sit here, we're going back to main cabin.'" Gammon says the flight attendants were watching this from the galley, and trying but failing to stop from crying. She says the soldiers had tears in their eyes too. She says one of the officers told her the soldiers have been in Iraq for more than a year, with bombs going off around them every day.
"Just to know we're behind them, means the world to them", Gammon says. She says she knows people want to show their support for our troops, and on that day, on that one flight, she saw that support displayed right in front of her. For on that day, the seats in first class were filled with first-class American soldiers.
blurry eyed bump
The passengers who gave their seats and the soldiers who got them will all be voting for President Bush in November.... I'd lay money on it...
Thank you very much. This article should be moved to be the thread article.
And no doubt there were a few Michael Moore types grumbling under their breath.
This should be automatic. Good for these first-class people. It's the least we should do.
God Bless America.
Interious
teary-eyed patriotic BUMP
Many thanks to both the soldiers and those good people who gave up their seats.
Smiling thru my tears.
nothing special, just good Americans being Americans.
I'll bet most of those first-class passengers are frequent flyers on American and members of their rewards program. In recognition of their gesture, American ought to do something for those passengers, perhaps a free flight or at least an additional credit toward their frequent flyer miles. American knows the passengers who made the gesture--it's in their database. I sent American an e-mail suggesting they do just that. I know the passengers in question probably don't want a reward or recognition, but I think they deserve something for the gesture, and to remind Americans that our troops deserve and appreciate our support. It's a given that everyone on this fourm is behind President Bush and our military, but lest we forget, a Iraq War veteran was recently booed when he participated in a parade in the Seattle area. That's why the episode on American Airlines needs to be widely publicized, and the airline needs to recognize the generosity of those first-class passengers...
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