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.
"Great Lakes
Air Base. We'll be there for two weeks
for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq," he answered.
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 the 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 twenty-five dollars.
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, and said, "I want to shake your
hand."
Quickly unfastening
my seat belt 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 another twenty-five dollars 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 twenty-five
dollars!
Upon entering the
terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them
seventy-five 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.
-- Author Unknown
No comments:
Post a Comment