this past weekend i arrived at the airport in columbus, ohio, ready to start my day and get home. when my crew got to the gate, we saw a lot of people. then i noticed the matching white and blue tshirts. we would be working the honor flight from columbus to baltimore/washington. the operations agent told us that it would be a longer boarding time (up to 1 hour) and that there would be 32 wheelchairs. i was ready to get started so we could get out on time and get the veterans to their destination.
we begin boarding. standing in the middle of the plane, i watched a few of the wwII veterans coming on board in their wheelchairs. some had to be assisted to their seat while others had to be completely lifted from their wheelchair onto the seat on the plane. as more of the veterans came on, they would say some witty comments as they passed me or grab my shoulder a bit, but all of them had a large smile on their face. it was contagious. typically i attempt to have my "boarding smile" on when people are coming on the plane, but today it was a true, happy smile. i was glad to see these veterans come aboard. i started to think about how genuinely happy these men and women were to be going to our nation's capital to see THEIR memorial. everyone was seated and we left the gate, right on schedule!
on our short flight over to baltimore/washington i had the opportunity to speak with a few of the guys, briefly. roger, who was now only able to get around in his motorized wheelchair due to paralysis in his legs, was a member of the glenn miller orchestra. he was a drummer for the famed band! one of the honor flight guardians told me that this particular trip to washington d.c. was rescheduled from an early trip which was cancelled due to weather back in september. these veterans were eager to get there. they hadn't been waiting only 2 months, they had been waiting over 60 years for the tribute to their service.
upon arrival to baltimore/washington airport, a group with american and military flags were waiting on them in the gate area. after walking off the plane, each solider passed by the flags while hearing the passengers waiting to board the next flight clapping and cheering them on. each of these veterans felt special and felt appreciated for their heroic service to our country. when i started to think more about what i was just a part of, it became a bit emotional. while i was able to hold back the tears, it was truly an honor to help get this group of veterans to the memorial they so deserved.
while this is also a flight from cmh to bwi, this was not the honor flight that i worked.
5 comments:
Adam,
We are always happy SW flyers. SW has done so much for us throughout the years to assist our vets making the dream trip they could never have accomplished without the help of volunteers throughout the nation and Honor Flight.
I am glad your flight was not delayed an hour and in fact, was on time due to the help of your quick and well trained crew.
ALL our guys made it back safe and sound and with a whole lot more happy memories to keep them going through the golden years.
Thank you for all you did to make that happen and thank you for helping us get the word out!
Hope to see you on another flight soon!
Susan
what a moving experience. i'm glad you got to be a part of that. i think we tend to forget how important those veterans are to our country.
What an honor for you to work that flight. I hope they all had the experience they hoped for in Washington.
What a great day for you but also for these gentlemen. What a great country we live in!!
um, I don't know how you held the tears back, Adam! I wouldn't have just cried, I probably would have been a blubbering fool... that video was so touching. I'm jealous of your experience, but glad you got to do it!!
Post a Comment