The Sack Lunch

posting this on the board, FWIW.
received from an old baptist list I am subscribed to.

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....

I JUST
DID

There is nothing attached. Just
send this to people in your address book. Do not let it stop
with you. Of all the gifts you could give a Marine, Soldier,
Sailor, Airman, & others deployed in harm's way, prayer
is the very best
one.

 

It's just a story.
And I picked it up because of the heartwarming side, I figured it didn't have to be true and allowed it its lapses because at the heart of it is:love the vets.