A happy story from the interwebs:
Sack Lunches on a Plane to Chicago
first published on UtVet.com 11/06/08
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to
read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.
Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled
all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a
conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated
nearest to me. ' Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two
weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq '
After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack
lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time. As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago ' His friend agreed.
I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty
dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms
and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son
was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'
Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best -
beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She
turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a
dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'
After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me a hundred dollar bill!
Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down
the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my
side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out
his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my
seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he
said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought
me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A
man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand,
wanting to shake mine. He left two twenty dollar bills in my palm.
When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to
deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped
me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without
saying a word. Another fifty dollars!
Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip
to the base. I walked over to them and handed them a hundred ninety
dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be
about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'
Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their
fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer
for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our
country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so
little...
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check
made payable to 'The United States of America for an amount of 'up to
and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.
All too often we just send jokes, either off color or clean and we
forget to send the ones
that mean so much. God Bless you.
God bless the United States of America.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Thanks to Col. Dave Gunn, chairman of the Provo Veterans Council who shared this inspiring story. Original photographer and author unknown.