God Bless this Airline Captain!

[Nervous Wreck]

Long, but a good read.....

He writes: My lead flight attendant came to me and said,
'We have an H.R. on this flight'. H.R. stands for human remains.
'Are they military?' I asked.

'Yes', she said.

'Is there an escort?' I asked.

'Yes, I already assigned him a seat'.

'Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck.
You can board him early', I said..

A short while later, a young Marine sergeant entered the
flight deck.. He was the image of the perfectly dressed Marine He
introduced himself and I asked him about his Marine. The escorts of
these fallen
Marines talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us.

'My Marine is on his way back to Virginia' he said.

He proceeded to answer my questions, but offered no words on his own..

I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I
told him that he had the toughest job in the military and that I
appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen
soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his
hand. He left the flight deck to find his seat.

We completed our pre-flight checks, pushed back and
performed an uneventful departure. About 30 minutes into our flight I
received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. 'I just
found out the family of the Marine we are carrying, is on board', he
said. He then proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and
2-year old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home
The family was upset because they were unable to see the container
that the Marine was in before we left. We were on our way to a major hub
at
which the family was going to wait four hours for the connecting flight
home to Virginia.

The father of the Marine told the flight attendant that knowing his son
was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable to see him was
too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight
attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see
him upon our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door
to watch the soldier being taken off the airplane. I could
hear the desperation in the flight attendants voice when he asked me
if there was anything I could do. 'I'm on it', I said. I told him that I
would get back to him.

Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in
the form of e-mail like messages. I decided to bypass this system and
contact my flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio. There is a
radio operator in the operations control center who connects you
to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with
the dispatcher. I explained the situation I had on board with the family
and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he
would get back to me.

Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher.
We were going to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the
family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I saved the return
message from the dispatcher and this following is the text:

'Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy
on this now and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a
dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the
family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the
remains with a secondary van for the family. The family
will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the terminal
where
the remains can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family
only. When the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted
onto the ramp and plane side to watch the remains being loaded for the
final leg home. Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans.
Please pass our condolences on to the family.. Thanks..'

I sent a message back telling flight control thanks for a good job. I
printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass
on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told
me, 'You have no idea how much this will mean to them.'

Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing..
After landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The
ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway.
It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to
enter and exit. When we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp
controller, we were told that all traffic was being held for us.

'There is a team in place to meet the aircraft', we were told. It looked
like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the
seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family
from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the
copilot to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the
gate to make an announcement to the passengers. He did that
and the ramp controller said, 'Take your time.'

I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public
address button and said, 'Ladies and gentleman, this is your Captain
speaking I have stopped short of our gate to make a special
announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and
respect. His name is Private XXXXXX, a Marine who recently lost his
life. Private XXXXXX is under your feet in the cargo hold.
Escorting him today is Marine Sergeant XXXXXXX. Also, on board are his
father, mother, wife, and daughter. Your entire flight crew is asking
for all passengers to remain in their seats to allow the family to exit
the aircraft first. Thank you.'

We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our
shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit
door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you
just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every
passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting
for the family to exit the aircraft.

When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly
started to clap his hands. Moments later more passengers joined in and
soon the entire aircraft was clapping.. Words of 'God Bless You', I'm
sorry, thank you, be proud, and other kind words were uttered to the
family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane.
They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with their loved one.

Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I
had made. They were just words, I told them, I could say them over and
over again, but nothing I say will bring back that brave Marine.

I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event and the
sacrifices that millions of our men and women have made to ensure our
freedom and safety in these United States of America.

[E_]

Wow dude, you kinda got me choked up a little this am.

[katie]

An excellent read Nervous Wreck, thank you for posting....

As I have stated before, we live very close to Camp Atterbury, an active Army Base and almost daily see soldiers of all ages. My heart always does a flip flop when I see them. We also have an "outlet" mall very close by and it's neat to see when their family is with them, they are beaming. So many do not have the privlege of having the situation in front of them and sometimes it gets forgotten. for all our military, future, present and fallen.