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.
‘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 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 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.’

May God give you the strength and courage to pass this along to
everyone on your email buddy list….