Hello,
>this is very sobering..brings everything into perspective...
>
>
>
>A Simple Thank You
>
>Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a
>Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two
>and two together. After we'd boarded our flight, I turned to the
>sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (and was seated
>across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.
>
>"No," he responded.
>
>"Heading out?" I asked.
>
>"No. I'm escorting a soldier home."
>
>"Going to pick him up?"
>
>"No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq. I'm taking him
>home to his family."
>
>The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch
>to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he
>didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to
>the soldier's family and felt as if he did know them after so many
>conversations in so few days. I turned back to him, extended my
>hand, and said, "Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so my
>family and I can do what we do."
>
>Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made
>the following a nnouncement over the intercom.
>
>"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the
>honor of having Sergeant Steeley of theUnited States Marine Corps
>join us on this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home
>to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we
>open the forward door [so as to] allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane
>and receive his fellow soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign."
>
>Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant
>saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action
>made me realize that I am proud to be an American. So here's a
>public thank-you to our military for doing what you do so we can
>live the way we do.
>
>Stuart Margel, Washington, D.C.
>
>[]
>
>
>Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News
>When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport,
>Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag
>over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the
>tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at
>Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene
>as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the
>windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those
>Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing
>that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're
>going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives.
>They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."
>
>
>
>The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey
>refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for
>the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets
>below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop
>computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the
>Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she
>slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she
>said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."
>this is very sobering..brings everything into perspective...
>
>
>
>A Simple Thank You
>
>Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a
>Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two
>and two together. After we'd boarded our flight, I turned to the
>sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (and was seated
>across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.
>
>"No," he responded.
>
>"Heading out?" I asked.
>
>"No. I'm escorting a soldier home."
>
>"Going to pick him up?"
>
>"No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq. I'm taking him
>home to his family."
>
>The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch
>to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he
>didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to
>the soldier's family and felt as if he did know them after so many
>conversations in so few days. I turned back to him, extended my
>hand, and said, "Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so my
>family and I can do what we do."
>
>Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made
>the following a nnouncement over the intercom.
>
>"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the
>honor of having Sergeant Steeley of theUnited States Marine Corps
>join us on this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home
>to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we
>open the forward door [so as to] allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane
>and receive his fellow soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign."
>
>Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant
>saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action
>made me realize that I am proud to be an American. So here's a
>public thank-you to our military for doing what you do so we can
>live the way we do.
>
>Stuart Margel, Washington, D.C.
>
>[]
>
>
>Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News
>When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport,
>Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag
>over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the
>tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at
>Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene
>as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the
>windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those
>Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing
>that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're
>going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives.
>They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."
>
>
>
>The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey
>refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for
>the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets
>below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop
>computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the
>Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she
>slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she
>said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."
