The body of Master Sgt. Shawn A. Richardson arrived at Miami International Airport an hour behind schedule. It was 1:30 a.m. He was greeted by firetrucks and a row of Miami-Dade police officers, an impromptu honor guard that carefully draped the American flag over his casket and escorted the sergeant from the runway.
The brief ceremony passed quietly, but not unnoticed. Touched, American Airlines Capt. Gary Blied wrote an essay and e-mailed it to some friends. They forwarded it to others. Blied's moving words spread quickly around the world. Thousands of e-mails popped into his inbox. Tearful phone calls came from as far away as Sri Lanka. Church bulletins and newspapers reprinted the letter. Now, officials may implement a special designation for flights carrying fallen military personnel. And special decorated carts will be used for their caskets at some commercial airports.
Dougherty and officers coordinate with the Transportation Security Administration and American Airlines to find out arrival times of bodies. Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue trucks spray water in ceremonial arches over arriving planes. K9 officers sweep hearses for security.
Airport and federal customs officers form impromptu honor guards to greet caskets, covered with a U.S. flag they bought themselves.
On Dec. 3, Captain Blied was told Richardson would be aboard his flight from Chicago to Miami.
Pre-flight: ``I went down onto the ramp and found the long box appropriately stationed off to the side in a luggage cart. The curtains on the cart were pulled. I spent a few moments in prayer with him.''
After touchdown in Miami, the plane was met by a Miami-Dade patrol car. ``As we approached the ramp we noticed the lights. There were at least a half-dozen fire trucks, no less than 15 police cars and countless other vehicles. They were all parked in rows with their lights flashing. As we taxied our aircraft to the gate, the fire trucks saluted our arrival with crossed streams of water shooting over the aircraft. ''He looked up into the plane's windows. ``Not one of our passengers had moved until our fallen soldier had departed the aircraft.''
Capt. Blied typed his account and e-mailed it. Within three days, he said, he was averaging 100 e-mails a day. It appeared in several military and Midwest newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune.
Blied said, American Airlines is painting luggage carts with the five seals of the military, to transport caskets at airports. ''The cleanest, best-looking luggage carts we've got,'' he said,
The brief ceremony passed quietly, but not unnoticed. Touched, American Airlines Capt. Gary Blied wrote an essay and e-mailed it to some friends. They forwarded it to others. Blied's moving words spread quickly around the world. Thousands of e-mails popped into his inbox. Tearful phone calls came from as far away as Sri Lanka. Church bulletins and newspapers reprinted the letter. Now, officials may implement a special designation for flights carrying fallen military personnel. And special decorated carts will be used for their caskets at some commercial airports.
Dougherty and officers coordinate with the Transportation Security Administration and American Airlines to find out arrival times of bodies. Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue trucks spray water in ceremonial arches over arriving planes. K9 officers sweep hearses for security.
Airport and federal customs officers form impromptu honor guards to greet caskets, covered with a U.S. flag they bought themselves.
On Dec. 3, Captain Blied was told Richardson would be aboard his flight from Chicago to Miami.
Pre-flight: ``I went down onto the ramp and found the long box appropriately stationed off to the side in a luggage cart. The curtains on the cart were pulled. I spent a few moments in prayer with him.''
After touchdown in Miami, the plane was met by a Miami-Dade patrol car. ``As we approached the ramp we noticed the lights. There were at least a half-dozen fire trucks, no less than 15 police cars and countless other vehicles. They were all parked in rows with their lights flashing. As we taxied our aircraft to the gate, the fire trucks saluted our arrival with crossed streams of water shooting over the aircraft. ''He looked up into the plane's windows. ``Not one of our passengers had moved until our fallen soldier had departed the aircraft.''
Capt. Blied typed his account and e-mailed it. Within three days, he said, he was averaging 100 e-mails a day. It appeared in several military and Midwest newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune.
Blied said, American Airlines is painting luggage carts with the five seals of the military, to transport caskets at airports. ''The cleanest, best-looking luggage carts we've got,'' he said,
