I forbindelse med Veterans Day

[LN-MOW]

Veterans Day og verdig behandling av tjenestegjørende er noe som tas alvorlig her borte. Nå kan man sikkert si både det ene og andre om en del av konfliktene man har vært involvert i, men de som går i strid for sitt land fortjener uansett respekt og god behandling for sine ofre. Og noen tarden litt lengre enn andre. jeg har selv vært med på å ta imot falne soldater, og kudos til Alaska Airlines som gjør oppgaven litt lettere for de som er involvert.

The nine-hour layover came during an airborne journey spanning one-third of the distance around the world: Guam to Honolulu to Houston before touching down in Seattle. Yet, Master Sgt. Scott Binnie was not exhausted, hungry or stressed.

Binnie, who volunteered to escort the remains of a fallen airman from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, sat comfortably in Alaska Airlines' Seattle Hangar as he waited to complete his flights to Spokane, Wash., and, finally, Lewiston, Idaho, where the airman would be buried.

"The maintenance personnel at Alaska Airlines are outstanding," Binnie said. "They set me up in an office where I could make phone calls, check the status of my flight and eat a hot meal."

Protocol requires military escorts to stay with the remains of a fallen soldier from the time they leave a mortuary until they arrive at their final resting place. The remains are shipped as cargo, but escorts accompany the casket into holding facilities between flights.

http://splash.alaskasworld.com/Newsroom/ASNews/ASfeatures/AS_20110817_115712.asp