.jpg)
May 22, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: During my Air Force career, I flew two missions in the venerable, old C-141 Starlifter that I always think about, with great reverence, on Memorial Day.
One was a flight out of Vietnam in 1974 over the Pacific Ocean, and the other, over the Atlantic, from the Middle East back to Dover AFB in 1990. In the back of my airplane, on both missions, I carried the flag-draped caskets of young, American soldiers, who had been killed in the line of duty. I felt a great, deep sense of loss and the asked the painful question, “why,” because I believed then and now, those wars were huge mistakes for our nation.
During each of these two flights, on opposite sides of the world and 16 years apart, I left my seat on the flight deck and made my way back to “visit” my precious “passengers.” I wondered who these young soldiers were, where were they from, how did they grow up, what were their dreams and hopes in life, and how devastated their families must be!
I always did so with a huge lump in my throat and so appreciated the thought that, there, but for the grace of God lay I, the only difference being I was flying them “home” and they were being carried gently home by me.
I still cherish the memory of those two flights and how honored I had felt to be carrying those dear, young ones “home.”
PHILIP CLAYTON, Retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel
