Memorial Day Special

#memorialday #blog #avgeek #airline

COMEMORATING MEMORIAL DAY...

NEVER FORGET

Dear fellow #AvGeek,

A reminder that next week is Blogging in Formation week — a post every day from your favorite #aviation bloggers!  Next week's theme: "My Most Memorable Flight."  My post, THE SKY FELL, will post Wednesday, June 5.

If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to read the First in our series, "How I Was Brought to Flying," already posted!  Here are the links:

Hotlinks to sites:

05.06.13 iFLYblog - Brent Owens (Intro Post)

05.07.13 Flight to Success - Karlene Petitt 

05.08.13 Adventures of Cap’n Aux - Eric Auxier

05.09.13 House of Rapp - Ron Rapp

05.10.13 Airplanista - Dan Pimentel

05.11.13 Smart Flight Training - Andrew Hartley

05.12.13 iFLYblog - Brent Owens

And now . . . .
Ladies and Gentlemen, in honor of our Nation's Fallen, may I humbly present an Encore Presentation of one of my most popular blog posts ever...

FLYING A FALLEN HERO

Missing Man Formation.

Recently I experienced one of the greatest—and most heart-rending—honors a modern airline pilot can have:  Captaining a flight that is transporting a fallen soldier to his final resting place.

Escorting the hero was a military honor guard consisting of two of the soldier’s comrades, and two young Marines.  Also onboard were the man’s father and a lovely, devastated young woman—girlfriend? Wife? Sister?  I never found out.  I never learned the soldier's name, either.  Or his rank.  Or how or where he died.
But it didn't matter.  Because, like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, he was ours.  He was us.
Coming on the heels, as it was, of the Aurora movie theatre tragedy, this flight was particularly poignant for all passengers and crew as well.

Comrades and Honor Guard salute the Fallen...

...and then crisply march away...

As soon as our preflight duties were finished, I ordered the gate agents to allow the party onboard.  They were escorted down to the ramp, where they presided over a short ceremony as the casket was loaded into the forward cargo hold.  Simple, precise and crisp, the military detail saluted the casket then made a sharp about face to march away, reminding me of the Missing Man Formation often flown by jet fighters.*

The Missing Man pulls out of formation...

For six hours as we crossed the country, I contemplated my speech.  As Captain of the flight, I was expected to say a few words upon arrival.  At Top of Descent, I took a deep breath and keyed the PA:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking.  I’d like you to pay special attention to this announcement.  (pause)  Today we have the great, great honor of escorting one of our fallen soldiers to his final resting place.  
“Also on board, you may have noticed, is a military honor guard as well as family and loved ones of the deceased.  I would like to personally request that, upon arriving at the gate, out of respect for our fallen hero, you remain seated as the party deplanes to meet their loved one planeside.”

And for his loved ones, I saved the best for last.

“And to those of you worried about connections, I would like to say that we are arriving thirty minutes early.  That is because Air Traffic Control, aware of our status as an escort flight, cleared us ‘Direct to Destination’, in honor of our precious cargo.  (deep breath, trying desperately not to choke up)  Ladies and Gentlemen, in my 30-plus years  of flying, I have never witnessed such a gesture.”

It was true.  Despite pushing back from a major hub airport during rush hour, Ground Control cleared us straight to the runway, Tower immediately cleared us for takeoff, and Center direct to his final resting place.

It was my leg.  I am proud to say that, in honor of the fallen, I was able to make one of my smoothest-ever “greaser” landings, and rolled quietly down and off the runway to the gate.

The entire cabin was quiet and still as the solemn party proceeded off the plane.  I emerged from the cockpit just in time for the father to say to me, with tears in his eyes, a quiet, “Thank you.”

“It was an honor,” I replied.  “Take care, sir.”

God paints a gorgeous sunset to welcome the Fallen to his final resting place.

The party had another brief ceremony planeside as the coffin was loaded onto a specially-painted black tug and cart and driven off-airport.

Crew and Passengers' mood: somber and reflective...

Needless to say, the mood among the crew was somber and reflective.  That was, until a small girl, no more than 4, marched up to the cockpit and loudly proclaimed, “Hi, pilots!  My name’s Gwennie!  But really my name’s Gwendolyn!”  Our hearts melted, putty in her charming little hands.

...And then a little passenger's innocent joy breaks the somber mood...

And then it hit me.  That little girl.  So full of joy.  Of innocence.  Of life.  That’s why our hero had sacrificed his.

And it was not in vain.

"To fly West, my friend, is a flight we must all take for a final check."
—Author Unknown**

I did not have the honor of serving my country like my father, brother and nephew.  It is to them—and to our Fallen Hero and his loved ones—that I dedicate this piece.

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DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?

If so, I invite you to COMMENT, SHARE, TWEET, LIKE, EMAIL &/or +1 below!

It's right after "Cap'n Aux links and just before the next post.

It looks like this: 

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*For more info on military escorts, see:

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/deploymentsconflicts/a/remains.htm

For more info on the Missing Man Formation, see:

http://www.oldglorytraditions.com/missingmanhistory.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_man_formation

Missing Man formation flown by Huey helicopters (traditional for Viet Nam Vets); Missing Man peels off at 1:56 mark. Thank you Allen:
HueyMissingMan

A recent story by Jet Johnny Jet about escorting a fallen soldier: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/11/03/passengers-honor-fallen-soldier-delta-flight
While doing research, I also stumbled upon a wonderful Captain’s blog, now defunct, with a strikingly similar story: 

Captain'sLog

Air Traffic Controller Alex shared this beautiful story from the "other side of the mic":
A Controller's Story

**Related poem:

Flying West

A wonderful music video found by Miss TWA (misstwa.blogspot.com):

Travelin' Soldier

"Mysterious Dancing Lights of Afghanistan"—an incredible phenomena, story and tribute the fallen! http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/07/30/206946740/mysterious-dancing-lights-in-afghanistan

Hotlink to original post (no changes, other than comments that were made): http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2012/07/interlude-flying-fallen-hero.html

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Next up:

Blogging in Formation Week!
Posts all week beginning Tuesday, June 4

This month's theme: "My Most Memorable Flight"

Cap'n Aux post: Wednesday, June 5 @ 8am

THE SKY FELL

"Launch my career or die?
What the F*&%$ did I just get myself into?"

Hotlinks to sites:

06.04.13 Flight to Success - Karlene Petitt 

06.05.13 Adventures of Cap’n Aux - Eric Auxier

06.06.13 House of Rapp - Ron Rapp

06.07.13 Airplanista - Dan Pimentel

06.08.13 Smart Flight Training - Andrew Hartley

06.09.13 iFLYblog - Brent Owens

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Posting June 15 @ 8:00 PHX:

A Special Father's Day VLOG & Essay

"Of Dreams, Dared and Dashed, and Death"

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Posting June 26 @ 11:00 PHX:

"Around the World in 80 Jumpseats"

A Pilot's Eye View of the World from the Cockpit Jumpseat!

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