Pleased to share that local media recordnet.com updated this story to provide factual accounting of the interaction.
Flight from Sac to Phoenix was delayed 45 min. Pilot asked passengers to wait and let a “special military family” exit. A first class passenger booed complaining that he paid first class for this (the delay). It was a rude display of impatient behavior not booing a Gold Star family. I object to right wingers using this tragedy to stoke more hate. Shame on Redstate.com
My adopted community of Stockton, California is mourning the loss of a native son. Sgt. John Perry was killed averting a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on Saturday. He encountered the suicide bomber who was reportedly planning to self-detonate at the Veteran’s Day 5K run to be held on the military base. The Perry family’s tragic loss has become national news with the incident reported by his father Mr. Stewart Perry that the family was booed by passengers in first class following the long flight home and a delay in the flight. Mr. Perry was unsure if the pilot announced that they were a Gold Star family or that the delay was to accommodate a military family. Either way, the impatient passengers that booed were rude and caused the family further emotional pain. It is unknown how many people actually booed, if there was a hiss or a loud protest. The grieving family seemed unsure of the details.
I knew about the soldier’s death from local media and mourn the family’s loss as does his hometown and the region. I read about the booing incident from a sibling who sent me the link from RedState which ran an article that whitewashes the soldier’s father’s criticism of candidate Donald Trump’s egregious remarks about the Khan family. You may recall that the Khan family spoke eloquently at the August 2016 Democrat National Convention.
The NYT article that provides background information on the Gold Star designation and the Khan family is found here.
It’s a distinction no family wants.
“I am a Gold Star mother,” Ghazala Khan wrote in an op-ed article in The Washington Post on Sunday in a rebuke to Donald J. Trump, who had criticized her for standing silently by the side of her husband, Khizr, as he gave a memorable speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last week.
RedState produced this twisted twist of the story by Susan Wright who manages to minimize Trumps statements about the Khan Gold Star family who are Muslim.
“DISGUSTING: Gold Star Family Suffers Through Booing by Passengers on Flight to Bring Son’s Body Home. Posted at 1:15 pm on November 19, 2016 by Susan Wright
This is upsetting to epic levels.
Sgt. John Perry was killed in Afghanistan a week ago, when he stumbled across a suicide bomber.
The bomber was on his way to take out U.S. servicemen who would be participating in a 5k Veterans Day run.
Any time one of our servicemen or women are (sic.) killed, it is a time to mourn. What makes this particularly upsetting, however, is what happened on the family’s flight to bring their son’s body home for burial.
The family and their fallen son were booed by the passengers of that flight back to California.
Perry said his son’s death comes at a time military service is facing disrespect. He said his family was even booed on the flight to bring his son’s body home over a delay.
“To hear the reaction of the flight being delayed because of a Gold Star family and the first class cabin booing, that was really upsetting, and it made us cry some more,” he said.
So the first class cabin of this long flight home booed someone whom neither of them could hope to rise to his level of worth to humanity.
I can just about guarantee you that those booing this American hero and his family were among those who also feigned disdain over Donald Trump’s comments towards the Gold Star Khan family, who spoke at the DNC convention. (REALLY-my edit)?
Mr. Perry mentioned Trump and the Khan family, as a matter of fact.
“One example would be Donald Trump speaking badly about a Gold Star family, who I now am, and it really bothers me, but it also bothers me that people don’t want to talk about the terrorism that killed my kid,” he said.”
Mr. Perry, Sgt. Perry and their families deserve compassion and respect. “I want people to know about the heroic thing that my son did,” he said.
One step toward compassion and respect would be accurate reporting.
