David Darrow was about to go off like a firecracker when he found out the captain had purposely delayed his flight home.
His American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Charlotte had been put on hold, and all because the captain wanted to observe a moment of silence!
Even though it was the Fourth of July holiday weekend, David wasn’t feeling particularly patriotic.
Holiday travel has a way of bringing out the worst in people, and he was admittedly more worried about missing his connecting flight than celebrating the country’s independence.
But, that anger soon turned into sorrow when he realized that not everyone gets to travel back home in the main cabin of the plane.
On his Facebook page, David described how at first he was angry at the captain for stopping the boarding process.
“Yesterday I took a 10:00am flight from Phoenix to Charlotte and it was the most emotionally draining flight I have ever taken. I have never cried so much for someone I did not know as I did yesterday. I boarded highly aggravated and angry. (If you fly all a lot you’ll understand holiday travel: it’s absolutely madness).”
When the captain announced that a very special VIP was boarding the plane, David looked outside the window to see if he could catch a glimpse of who that person was.
“I sat down in my seat and two minutes later, boarding was ceased by the captain and told to stop in our tracks and observe a moment of silence. I thought “Now what? And I got even more angry because I was going to miss my connection.”
The scene he saw unfold on the tarmac broke his heart.
“And then this happened………This soldier, who died in Afghanistan!”
A series of heartbreaking photos shows the ground crew loading a casket into the baggage compartment of the plane. It had an American flag draped over the top, and the words “Handle With Extreme Care” written on the side.
“[The soldier] Was being flown home to North Carolina on our flight. You see this is what the 4th July is about. This is why we are free to argue over a stupid athlete and a stupid pair of tennis shoes. It about a sacrifice of men and women who since 1776 have laid down there lives so I can eat hotdogs and drink beer and watch fireworks.”
“The captain came out of the cockpit and address the passenger in person. He was a guy who also served and his four kids are currently serving and he did not keep it together and we all cried. The entire flight I looked at the floor of the plane crying as I knew this fine gentleman is down there so I can sit here and eat dumb peanuts.”
The ground crew were extremely respectful of the fragile situation that was literally in their hands, and took the utmost care in loading the unnamed soldier onto the plane.
David admitted to feeling very guilty and sad about the whole situation, especially since just moments earlier his mind had been wrapped around his own self-professed “trivial” problems.
“Here I was flying home to be with my family for the 4th. Here he was going to with his family to be buried on the 4th.I wanted to share this because it is a 4th of July I will never forget. My problems melted away and I was so proud of America and American Airlines for showing so much respect.”
“Please keep his family in your thoughts today. Because somewhere in North Carolina a family is burying there son, dad, brother, sisters and his mother are saying goodbye today.”
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