We Can't All Be Heroes. A Moving Airport Experience

I hereby resign my self-assigned "Road Warrior" commission. I totally denounce any reference I've ever made to "running the gauntlet" of business travel. Instead I will simply clap as true heroes and warriors make their way by.

Yesterday started out as a typical day of business travel. Snarled traffic on the way to an early morning flight. Even worse congestion in TSA's security line. Terribly clumped groups on both sides of the carry-on scanner. Slow moving lines for overpriced coffee, and - to top it off - my chocolate glazed donut could have used more chocolate. Feeling sorry for me yet?

I actually enjoy the routine of frequent travel. Maybe I'm just numb from experience, but nothing mentioned above is more than a very minor inconvenience. It's rare, though, to enjoy a truly moving experience in an airport.

Because of their no-assigned-seats and group-boarding practices, some consider travel on Southwest Airlines to be an inconvenience. I've learned to embrace Southwest for their flexibility, their value and their service. (Please note: aside from my hard-won - argghhh, another cliché to banish - A-List status, I have absolutely no connection to Southwest).

Frequent Southwest fliers are well acquainted with the practice of lining up early. Sure enough, as I approached Gate B14 at BWI, I could see a large group of people already lined up. But it seemed too early - about 45 minutes before our scheduled departure time. And they weren't lined up in positions 1-5, 6-10, etc. No, instead they were lined up at the end of the jetway, forming a special aisle for exiting passengers to walk through.

Several held small flags. A good number wore vivid lime t-shirts printed with "Honor Flight Ground Crew" logos. A handful wore military uniforms. A sailor held the hands of his two young daughters. A quick scan suggested that every military service was represented.

Most of the observers were much like me - in a fog about what was going on, but joining the line to see what was coming. And then the clapping began. An enthusiastic gentleman standing by the jetway's door confidently proclaimed: "Here he comes!" An elderly man - a veteran of World War II - walked slowly up the jetway. As he was passed through the doorway, the clapping grew louder. The men and women in uniform leaned forward to shake his hand. More tentatively, so did the sailor's two daughters.

Then another "Here he comes." And so came another vet. Like most who followed, he sat in a wheelchair. Then another, and another ... perhaps two dozen in all, in a slow parade of reverence and spontaneous joy. Some were pushed by Ground Crew volunteers. Some were pushed by family members. Most beamed with pride and happiness. A few fought back tears, not always with success. Many in the terminal fought back tears as well, even less commonly with success.

And then it got even better.

Sounding at first like an echo, but streaming in a slow wave, the clapping flowed to the far end of the terminal. Travelers set down their iPads, their coffee and their magazines as they drifted into spontaneous lines that spanned the entire length of Terminal B at BWI. The clapping continued until the final hero made his way to the end.

I learned that the travel and the seed of the greeting were the work of The Honor Flight Network. I later read this on their www.honorflight.org website:

"Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America's veterans for all their sacrifices. We transport our heroes to Washington D.C. to visit and reflect at THEIR memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans - World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill."

These visits to our Capital typically span 3 days, and include tours of such exceptionally meaningful sites as the Iwo Jima Memorial, the World War II Memorial and Arlington Cemetery. The Honor Flight Network covers all expenses for travel and accommodations for the genuine road warriors who served our country before many of us were born. The group that we saluted had flown in from St. Louis.

I mentioned that a number of people in the gauntlet by the jetway wore t-shirts with Honor Flight Ground Crew logos. The shirts also carried this quote from Will Rogers:

"We can't all be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they go by."

Originally posted to LinkedIn on July 9, 2014