Angel Flight

[mf_dolphin]

I ran across this today on Foxnews. As we all gather this holiday season let's please remember those that pay the price for our freedom. Please say a special prayer for their families. Thanks

Things like this happen, and all it means is that people work very hard to then make more things happen, and we got word last night that we were manifested on a C130 flight named Mercy 10 — an angel flight.

An angel flight is the saddest way to end our time in Iraq, because “angel flight” means that the plane is carrying a “fallen angel” — a young man or woman who has died and is going home.

In moments of reflection, we think of very golden images. I swear that if prophecy has an angel, then, as I climbed on board the C130 through a narrow door wearing body armor and carrying two bags, the scene inside the hold of the plane truly took my soul away.

Imagine an empty plane, stripped bare. No seats, nothing. At the end is a coffin, tied down, with a flag covering it. A beam of sunshine shines through the only window on the side of the plane, and the beam lands on the coffin exactly. Above the coffin, another flag hanging proudly, lit up by the spill of light on the coffin.

I stopped, just plainly stopped, and realized that a young soldier was going home a “fallen angel,” and I thought of the wife, mother, father, brother, or sister who would watch their angel carried off the back of a plane in the next few days.

We all know the image. We have all seen the pictures, and have heard words of bravery as the flag-draped coffin is carried of the back ramp.

Some people use the image of dead soldiers in body bags to describe how bad the war is going, and how the pundits in Washington do not want to talk about war casualties.

These people have never sat alone in the hold of a plane looking at the rays of sunshine reflected on a coffin. As we flew back into Kuwait, the rays of light changed and altered, but in the entire flight of just over an hour, the sunbeam rarely left the angel.

In the last minutes of daylight, we landed in Kuwait, and an honor guard lined up and slowly saluted as the coffin was carried out of the plane.

I do not know the name of the soldier, sailor, or Marine who was in the coffin. I do not want to know; it would of not made any difference. The respect a son was paid defies my words.

But an angel did cast a sunbeam on a fallen angel the whole way home."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,234849,00.html

[CajunMama]

Wow. This puts me at a loss for words. Quite sobering.

[Lindaloo]

Amen Marshall. I know I will never forget and will be saying special prayers for all who have fought and died for my freedom. God Bless our Troops!

[brunota2003]

that goes along with this thread I started a couple weeks ago: http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=91581

When my dad came back from Kuwait, the flight he was on, if you were with the military and was there for the war in Iraq, (either military or civilian contractor), you were automatically bumped up to 1st Class...I thought that was pretty cool

[Stephanie]

Thank you Marshall for that powerful reminder at this time of the year.

[Rainband]

Sobering is a good word. thanks Marshall

[pojo]

When I was deployed we sent home a fallen soldier two weeks before Christmas. The C130 angel flight brought him in from Afghanistan and I was the one that spotted the vehicle underneath the C17 with his final Al Udeid salute... we brought the transfer case from the C130 to the awaiting medical C17 headed up to Ramstein AB, Germany... that was the day I called home and said I loved everyone... It didn't hit me until afterwards that we were at war.

Back in June, I was flying on Northwest and was headed down to Keesler and was bumped up to First Class with several Military soldiers (not necessarily in uniform, but it was quite obvious)... that was awesome... the lady at the gate counter replaced all of our tickets with First Class tickets.