I would hope these passengers would have showed some better respect if they knew the “special military family” were in fact a gold-star family. Regardless I have been on many flights where people who needed to catch connecting flights were allowed to de-board early to catch their flights and have never heard of anyone booing them:
The father of a soldier who was killed last weekend in Afghanistan was disappointed and hurt after airline passengers booed him and his family as they flew to meet his son’s remains.
Stewart Perry, an ex-Marine who lives in Stockton, said the ordeal left him feeling disrespected.
“It was really disgusting on the passengers’ part,” he said Friday.
His son, Sgt. John Perry, was one of two killed in an explosion at a United States airbase on Nov. 12. He was honored at a memorial service in Lodi on Thursday and will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. (……….)
Stewart Perry said he, his wife, Kathy, and daughter were flying on an American Airlines flight from Sacramento on Monday to Philadelphia, with a quick transfer in Phoenix. From Philadelphia, they traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to receive his son’s remains.
For unknown reasons, Perry said, the flight to Phoenix was 45 minutes late. The crew feared the delay might cause the Perrys miss their connecting flight.
So, when the plane landed in Phoenix, the captain made an announcement for all passengers to remain seated and to let a “special military family” exit the aircraft first, Perry said.
Several passengers in first class began to boo and complain, Perry said.
“Some people were saying ‘This is just baloney,’ and ‘I paid for first-class for this?’ ”
He said American Airlines “did everything they could” to accommodate his family. [RecordNet.com]
Congrats to the US Ambassador to Korea, Mark Lippert:
The wife of U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert gave birth to a second child Monday.
“It’s a girl! Mom & baby are great!” Lippert tweeted with a photo of his wife Robyn and the baby. He also added in Korean that he and his wife are happy parents. [Chosun Ilbo]
An American teacher working at an elementary school in Busan and her family have been selected to receive a community service award from the city of Busan for helping to clean up Gwangalli Beach after Typhoon Chaba struck the city:
From left: Sisters Fiona and Stella Rupert and their mother Deanna walk on Gwangalli Beach in Busan which they cleaned on Oct. 5 after typhoon Chaba wrecked it. / Yonhap
An American family who voluntarily cleaned Busan’s Gwangalli Beach that was wrecked by deadly typhoon “Chaba” this month will receive an award for their service to the community.
The city’s Suyeong-gu District Office said on Monday that it would present Deanna Rupert, 38, and her two daughters, Fiona, 11, and Stella, 5, with an “award certificate for foreign residents” to honor what they did.
The three Americans — who live near the beach — and a group of Koreans cleaned up the beach for more than four hours on Oct. 5. They had brought their own equipment.
“Fiona told me the beach was our neighborhood, and that it was our duty to clean it up and protect its environment,” said her mother, according to Yonhap news agency. [Korea Times]
