About 40 minutes before a flight bound for Los Angeles landed, the pilot of the Delta plane announced to passengers that they were carrying a fallen soldier aboard and prepared them for the emotional moment they were about to witness, the New York Daily News reported.
In the account written by travel writer John E. DiScala on his website, JohnnyJet.com, the pilot told everyone over the loud speaker that the uniformed soldiers on board would be part of the escort procedure for the deceased troop.
DiScala also said the pilot warned everyone of the several fire trucks that would accompany their landing, since the family of ever fallen soldier is greeted with a water cannon salute.
"The water glistening on the window panes looked like tears," he wrote.
After they finally landed at Los Angeles International Airport, a military officer entered the plane and thanked the passengers.
"It is a sworn oath to bring home to the family the fallen," the officer said. "Today, you all did that. You are all escorts, escorts of the heart."
Although most people are generally rushing out of the airport once they arrive, DiScala said he witnessed most people on board gather by the window to watch the ceremony.
"There was a large number of passengers, who are normally in a hurry to get home or make a connection, standing by the window to witness something truly moving," DiScala wrote.
Together, all of them watched the casket covered in the American flag come off the plane as the soldier's loved ones looked on.
"As soon as I saw her reach out to put her hand on her baby's casket, I walked away," he wrote.
On DiScala's Facebook page, thousands of people liked, shared, and commented on his story post and thanked him for sharing his story with the world.
"I was wiping away the tears your story brought to me. Thx for writing about the fallen soldier. More stories like this need to be done on our military," one commenter wrote.
