Posted on 09/02/2021 6:48:56 AM PDT by Sasparilla
This was written by a Friend's Army grandson who along with his military wife were on their way to TDY.
You never know when the moment will choose you..... Mary and I were seated in the 1A&B bulkhead seats for our flight to Salt Lake City (connecting to SEATAC) as the plane loaded in Philly. Just a regular flight like any other. Mary and I were talking and over her shoulder I noticed a guy in line, coyote brown day pack with a MARPAT poncho liner rolled up and lashed to the side, khaki vertx cargo pants, crocks and a 2/5 Marines T-shirt. What stood out to me was that he was carrying a folded American Flag. My blood turned cold. "Mary", and I gestured towards him as he moved down the isle somewhere in the rear of the plane. She turned around and then she looked back at my face and she knew too. "You think"? Asked Mary "Philly is the closest airport to Dover AFB", I replied.
Mary and I sat in silence staring at each other for a few seconds and then she said "I'm going to take his seat and send him up here, he needs YOU, Chuck". Before I could even reply she was out of her seat and moving to the rear. A couple minutes later this Marine is standing next to me and he says "I was told to report to the bulkhead". "Hey man, I'm Chuck have a seat". We shook hands.
Long story short, this Marine was a Company Gunny in 2-1 Marines and had just escorted 10 of his men to Dover AFB. He was on his way to Pendleton after being relieved by other escorts to take his fallen Marines to their various places of internment. We talked and I listened. This was his 6th deployment and he had worked Abby gate with his Marines for the past couple weeks. The things he saw at that gate are indescribable. He called it playing God, as they plucked At Risk Afghans out of the crowd.
He was the Marine captured in a meme giving children drinks of his bottled water. He was still in shock, his hands were still stained from the MASCAL. The weight of that flag in his lap was almost overwhelming to me as I sat next to him. I struggled with my own emotions as I got him fed and a cold beer and some water. And then I let him rest, he was so impossibly tired. Misha and I looked after him while he slept. After we had been flying for a couple of hours he woke up to go to the bathroom. He got up still clutching the flag, then he turned and looked back at his seat and then at me.... questioning. I nodded that it was safe for him to leave it. He set the flag on his seat and went to the bathroom.
Now I was alone with the flag that had been over a coffin in a C17 hours earlier. This symbol of it all, the whole damn 20 years sat there next to me and I couldn't hold the tears back anymore. I texted my Marines, Jake, and Paul others and told them that fate had made me a Ranger Buddy of Marines tonight.
My thoughts were with the Gunny, it hadn't hit him yet. Mary and I could see it in his eyes, he was running on auto pilot. Where do we find such men????
I checked with Delta to see if there was a late flight from San Diego to Seattle but the last flight of the night had gone, so going the rest of the way to San Diego so he wouldn't be alone was out of the question as I would be stuck there until tomorrow. I made sure that his unit had transportation waiting for him when he arrived there, and we parted company in Salt Lake to head to our connecting flights.
I'm writing this not to virtue signal but to remind everyone that outside of their life and its problems, there are men holding the line, doing what must be done no matter what. While my family stands down a hurricane and there is nothing I can do to help them tonight, God put me on a plane with a lone Marine carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Mary made sure that for at least a couple of hours of his journey, that he wouldn't have to bear the weight of that flag alone, and I love her for it. Misha showed the love that only an animal trained to serve could and I'm grateful for both.
Sitting in 1A wasn't the mission I deserved, but it was the mission that I needed tonight. Semper Fidelis
Damn allergies my eyes are blurry.
Beautiful.
Been that way since I read this last night
God Bless
Thank you for your service, and thank you for your service.
Overwhelmed.
Goosebumps.
Yes. “Been that way since I read this last night.”
Yes, me, too. I go to the VAMC in Pittsburgh regularly. Over time I have met many vets who participated in many wars. Some I have never heard of. Mostly they don’t want to talk with me as I query them about their service. Then I recall my son as I remember him when he was young <20 yo....then he came home and stayed with me for weeks. It has been hard to reconcile what I remember of his past behavior with his current behavior except he is gentle and very kind when dealing with my cats. And he, too, does not want and will not talk about any of his experiences.
Keeping the anger and anguish apart from their later lives is not a healing process, I think.
God bless.
Yes, God Bless.
Lord, Bless and Keep this Marine all his days. And let him always know he is NOT alone.
This should be sent across our Nation.
Bless you, Sasparilla.
Ltr
Touching story but can someone tell me why he would still be carrying a flag if he is no longer escorting?
If you or anyone else know how to do this, Please do it. That’s a great idea. I don’t know how.
” This should be sent across our Nation”
I wonder what color his socks were?
I don’t enjoy being cynical but sometimes it is hard to resist. I hope this is not a stolen valor story.
Nope. This is real. Stolen valor is disgusting
I don’t know. I’ve never escorted & chances are you haven’t either, but I know that after all the bullcrap that’s on the internet,it’s hard to separate fact from fantasy. If you’re skeptical, that’s OK with me.
I imagine it might have been real on the part of the couple traveling to Seattle. What I question is the escort’s account and for several reasons:
1. Why is he still carrying a flag that supposedly draped a coffin. Shouldn’t the flag have stayed with the coffin?
2. How is it he only accompanied the coffin to the Dover AFB and not to the eventual destination?
3. We constantly hear stories of the reluctance of soldiers to discuss their traumatic experiences, even years later. This escort was rather loquacious and added the detail that he was at the gate and was the Marine pictured giving water to children.
4. Why would the Marine still have stained hands and wouldn’t he be wearing gloves while handling the flag if that were the case?
I’m not military and don’t know customs and protocol but this seems a tad too good to be real. Real escort or someone looking for a sympathy upgrade on a long flight?
I have no idea. I have no answers. All I can do is relate that these are people, whom I personally know wrote that. I can’t vouch for anything else.
I can tell you that Chuck & his wife have very sensitive military jobs that require great attention to detail of anything out of the ordinary, such as detailed descriptions of people & a detailed report writing style of what they observed.
This was definitely out of the ordinary.
If it was bogus, I’m sure it was sorted out by the Marine friends whom Chuck called to pick him up at the layover.
If so, I’ll PM everyone who have questions if & when I find out more.
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