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.
'Petawawa. We'll be there for two
weeks for special training, and then we're being
deployed to Afghanistan
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 the east, and I quickly decided a lunch
would help pass the time...
As I reached for my
wallet, I overheard a 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 base.'
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
arm and squeezed tightly.
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.
'Petawawa. We'll be there for two
weeks for special training, and then we're being
deployed to Afghanistan
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 the east, and I quickly decided a lunch
would help pass the time...
As I reached for my
wallet, I overheard a 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 base.'
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
arm and squeezed tightly.
Our eyes met, it looked as if she was about to cry,
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
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 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.'
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
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 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.'
29 comments:
Reminds me of the banners and the nice USO folks at Baltimore IA who handed out goodies to us as we were on our way to the middle east...
I think I've read this before; it is nice.
Would that we all had an opportunity to do something so kind in person.
I wish we had that opportunity, too, Brooke.
SF, I'm glad you were treated well.......
I've read it before, too, but a very worthwhile read. It does my heart good to think that we could all make a story like that real one soldier at a time.
Z - That is a beautiful story.
I'm sure other people have done 'pay it forward' things for the troops and have been 'rewarded' for it - with a good feeling inside.
~~~
When I started reading your post I remembered that once when I saw a troop in the airport I wanted to thank him - but didn't.
As it turned out he was sitting right beside me on the hour flight.
I thought - Oh boy now I can really thank him.
But instead I jabbered the whole time - questioning him on all sorts of things and I'm sure he really wanted to take a nap - but he was very polite.
When we parted I realized I had said everything else to him - except just a 'thank you.' :(
During Gulf-1, we sent packages to
'any soldier', cookies mostly. Somehow, we adopted a USAF kid
over there and sent stuff every
month. The Sgt. looked us up when
he returned, and he being a sports
hunter, I was delighted to take
him on a personal tour of an ammunition factory where I worked.
(I was active duty so long ago that it was considered just a job-
no free lunches back then, darn)
What a fabulous story Z,especially the part when the passenger gave the soldiers the $75.00. They deserve that and much,much more.
At first when I saw the title I thought it was about your Mac-n-Cheez blog asking what is your favorite sac lunch items.
For years we have sent Care packages to unknown soldiers... we didn't know anyone in the wars, but we still wanted to help and there were organizations that put us together. We told them we didn't expect any thanks, but we did get letters and emails thanking us for the goodies we sent them. It was very emotional getting thanks from individual soldiers thanking us for our tiny little help.
"I wanted to thank him - but didn't."
Nice job. All that jabbering and you couldn't muster two words to him?
Maybe he thanked you instead...cause he didn't have to listen to you anymore?
Imp, for pete's SAKE.......it is sad Sue forgot but that can happen...
Thanks to all of you for all you do for the soldiers; I was hoping to get a LOT more wonderful stories.
Maybe too many of my commenters are like Lisa and thought this was something for geeeeZ and I'm going to change the title.
But I LOVE that idea for geeeZ, Lisa :-)
I'm working much more these days and hate spending money on lunch....maybe I'll get some ideas for good sack lunches! xx
"Imp, for pete's SAKE.."
Maybe you ought to read her statement again? She had opportunity, time, location and she didn't say....she forgot.
IMHO...she couldn't. That's my interpretation.
Imp, I don't (and won't) belabor this, but she said "When we parted I realized I had said everything else to him - except just a 'thank you.' :( ", ...and when someone says they 'realized' something and adds an unhappy face, it looks to me like Sue wishes she had thought of just thanking him instead of chatting.....
BB-Idaho...VERY cool that you got to meet your guy.
A friend of mine and I got letters during high school from Marines that we were to answer and we did; she married hers when he came to town and I had a nice letter relationship with Tim W. from Longmeadow, Mass...until I HEARD HIS ACCENT! Isn't that awful of me? Yup, he landed at LAX and called me early one Sunday morning and I found his accent so horrid, I don't think I wrote again! WHat a shallow PUNK at 18, I was, huh?
Timothy Walbridge, I think it was....anybody know him? :-) I'm not sure about the last name, darn.
Imp - I'm not sure why - becuase I am used to your comments - but your unkind remake was like a small stab in my heart.
Z - Although I'm not surprised that you supported my comment - I still thank you very much for that.
You know, I didn't forget - it's just that I am a talker - or a jabberer - as Imp puts it.
Sometimes I just don't 'think.'
But whatever the reason, I will say this:
I will living one hour south of the Indianapolis Airport in a week and I intend to make a point of being there when one of those planes lands with the troops on them that are coming in from Iraq -and I WILL be there waving my little 9/11 flag and hugging more than one of them.
I hope to get others to join me.
A great story Z. I'd love to have that opportunity. But, since I won't, I'll contribute to the USO, and Wounded Warriors.
Last year when I contributed toys to Toys for Tots, two Marines were standing there next to the bins. I shook their hands and thanked them.
Their broad smiles were my reward. It takes so little but means so much. I recommend it.
Actually, I wanted to hug them, but restrained myself.
Pris - I'm a person of little restraint - and I am determined
to have a least one hug. :-)
And who would deny me that on what I believe will be a most joyous occasion.
Really? Ghadaffi is dead, Obama announces the end of the Iraq was and THIS is all you can post. Child.
Powell's infamous presentation at the U.N.
The Obama administration’s announcement of a withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year offers the possibility of a definitive conclusion for the U.S. military’s involvement in Iraq. But while the return of all U.S. service men and women by Christmas is a cause for celebration, the costs of the war are only beginning to be fully understood. The “cakewalk” to Baghdad, as George W. Bush adviser Kenneth Adelman infamously wrote in February, 2002, has been anything but. The Iraq War, and the faulty premise that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, has had a staggering humanitarian and economic cost.
Here are some relevant numbers:
8 years, 260 days since Secretary of State Colin Powell presented evidence of Saddam Hussein’s biological weapons program
8 years, 215 days since the March 20, 2003 invasion of Iraq
8 years, 175 days since President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln
4,479 U.S. military fatalities
30,182 U.S. military injuries
468 contractor fatalities
103,142 – 112,708 documented civilian deaths
2.8 million internally displaced Iraqis
$806 billion in federal funding for the Iraq War through FY2011
$3 – $5 trillion in total economic cost to the United States of the Iraq war according to economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Blimes
$60 billion in U.S. expenditures lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001
0 weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq
My dad, who was in the army, at the time, used to invite soldiers to our home for Thanksgiving dinner, most of these guys weren't able to go home and would have stayed on base.
God bless my mom for cooking for these wonderful men in uniform, not to mention the fact, that at 15, I thought some of them were, umm....HOT! LOL!
But, these guys were so respectful of my parents, and dad being a higher rank, never once flirted with me or my sister. PERFECT gentlemen.
God bless our wonderful troops.
Pris, I have to admit I'd probably give a hug.......:-)
Bd.. Will you ever understand that not all people must agree with you and that you don't have the right way or some secret? Talk about a child, you poor thing :-)
Isn't it ODD that "0 weapons of mass destruction" somehow killed about 400,000 Kurds? Imagine that!
Leticia, That's so fabulous that the servicemen never hit on 'the daughters'.....that's saying a lot, isn't it. Thanks for that.
theses stories of those honoring our BEST always bring 'tears'...
Carol-CS
By the way, Bd, stop copy/pasting whole articles.
Leticia - 'these guys were so respectful...PERFECT gentleman.'
I can attest to that.
~~~
In 1968-69 my husband was stationed in Germany.
We would have what we called - as I remember - mixed functions - something like that and one time we were outside - just sitting around listening to LP's - like Procol Harum - stuff like that - officers, nco's, elisted -we just sat around chillin' and you are right - they were perfect gentleman.
No uniforms, just people having a nice time. There were other times, too, and I can't recall when there was ever a problem - when everyone wasn't on their best behavior.
Cause we were all just people.
Wanting to have a good time.
Enjoying each other's company.
Just chillin' out.
~~~
Ah, the good old days when life was simpler, not as complicated.
~~~
Before we started choosing up sides.
"In 1968-69 my husband was stationed in Germany."
I wonder if I bumped into him? Air Force or Army?
Nah...Germany's a big place with a few US military bases.
And Procol Harum....? We're really dating ourselves now.
A lovely story and a lovely sentiment, thanks for posting Z.
Imp - Army.
In 1968-69 we lived in a great town called Aschaffenburg.
There were hills surrounding it and one of them was called Three Cross Hill and in fact there were three large wooden crosses there put up after the war where an American general - not sure who - fired on the town with his big guns set up on the hill.
I used to take my Girl Scout Troop on a hike all the way up there.
He used to work in Hanau - not too far away.
Then we were back in 1978-80 in Frankfurt.
Loved Germany.
I guess my comment was chopped liver ;-)
cube, because I didn't respond?
I'm sorry...i have less time these days and try to respond to everybody but am not making that by a long shot.
NEVER 'chopped liver'....I'm always happy to have you here....
and ya...wouldn't it be great if we could all help EVERY soldier.
Maybe bringing them home yesterday might help. Sadly, it won't help my friend's nephew who was married 1 1/2 months ago, deployed, and has been at Bethesda now for almost 3 weeks; missing parts of both legs and the left arm.
Thankfully, he's got an amazing spirit and is already in PT! The docs say his recovery is "UNIQUE"...I say it's cuz he has about 1000 people praying for him.
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