The Conservative Cave
Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: AllosaursRus on November 13, 2008, 05:40:12 PM
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I sure hope this is true. It is definately how I feel and how I would conduct myself.........
The Sack Lunches.........
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 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, 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 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...
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.'
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Soldiers going to Great Lakes NAVAL Training Center? When I was there we had the occasional (and VERY RARE) Marine, but no AF or Army.
Bouncy. Sorry.
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I sure hope this is true. It is definately how I feel and how I would conduct myself.........
The Sack Lunches.........
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 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, 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 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...
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.'
I think it is a true story. I have seen many civilian acts of kindness towards military men and women at DFW.....from spontaneous outbursts of applause to picking up a roomful of checks. Normal people are wonderful that way
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Soldiers going to Great Lakes NAVAL Training Center? When I was there we had the occasional (and VERY RARE) Marine, but no AF or Army.
Bouncy. Sorry.
Yeah, I was kinda thinkin' that was a little stretch. However, I hope we still have citizens in this country who act like this!
I would, given the chance.
Even if it is a Bouncy, I hope this will encourage others to do this if they have the chance.
Know what ah mean, Vern? :cheersmate:
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According to snopes (http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/lunch.asp), it's still up in the air. They tend to slant way left, but they seem to get things like this right most of the time.
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I try to do stuff like this when I can.
I remember what it was like toughing out paycheck to paycheck.
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Yeah, I was kinda thinkin' that was a little stretch. However, I hope we still have citizens in this country who act like this!
I would, given the chance.
Even if it is a Bouncy, I hope this will encourage others to do this if they have the chance.
Know what ah mean, Vern? :cheersmate:
Oh, don't get me wrong--I believe the gist of the story, but the specifics? No. I've seen and participated in this kind of thing a number of times. Even if it's just something small like going up to a kid fresh out of boot and telling him thanks for serving, it means a lot--to BOTH of us.
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According to snopes (http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/lunch.asp), it's still up in the air.
We already knew that.
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I don't know about this story. I ate lunch with a bunch Air Force Personel in Iowa a year and a half ago. Someone in the restaurant picked up the tab for all of us, they never said who it was. I felt a little guilty, I had been a contractor for six years by then.
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I try to do stuff like this when I can.
I remember what it was like toughing out paycheck to paycheck.
As do I.
I was on vacation a few years ago and was driving back to Ohio from Georgia. We had stopped for gas and a bathroom break. I was in line at the cash register and was standing behind a young soldier in uniform. He was just paying for his gas. I stepped up next to him and told him it would be my honor to pay his bill for him.
He looked a little surprised, but was quite thankful. I told him it was the least I could do.
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Soldiers going to Great Lakes NAVAL Training Center? When I was there we had the occasional (and VERY RARE) Marine, but no AF or Army.
Bouncy. Sorry.
It's possible that the author didn't know that the word "soldiers" doesn't apply to Navy personnel.
Might it also be possible that Army personnel were headed to Great Lakes for some sort of training that they couldn't get through the Army? Either because the Army didn't offer it but needed it for some purpose, or because they didn't have enough spots open for such training but needed trained personnel right away? I don't know, that's why I'm asking.
As a side note, a friend of mine (or more correctly the grandfather of a friend of my brother, although that young lady's parents and grandfather are 'friends of the family' and I only hesitate to call them my friends personally because I feel it's a bit presumptuious to call someone so senior to me my friend) was apparantly one of the founders of the electronics or electrical engineering (or something along those lines) school at Great Lakes. He and his family lived on that base for years - and then I grew up, and may parents grew up, a half-hour drive from that base. Then so many years later my parents meet his son over a thousand miles away in Rhode Island because their kids go to school together there. Small world.
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Might it also be possible that Army personnel were headed to Great Lakes for some sort of training that they couldn't get through the Army? Either because the Army didn't offer it but needed it for some purpose, or because they didn't have enough spots open for such training but needed trained personnel right away? I don't know, that's why I'm asking.
The different armed forces branches now share training facilites. One is "parachute" training for all branches of service is done at Fort Benning Ga.(I think that's right). So if soldiers need to get some water wings training, they could be headed to the Great Lakes Naval training center..