As Flight Attendants, we give of ourselves on a daily basis. We may simply give a Customer a glass of water so they can take a pill or even run off the aircraft to grab some food for an Unaccompanied Minor. It gives us the opportunity to be someone’s small hero every day.
Little did I know that I would soon find heroes of my own. I met my husband, Ron, around the time I went into training at Southwest 15 years ago. We married three years later in 2001. At the age of 39, Ron entered the military in the Air Force Reserve. His position was ground vehicle maintenance with the Triple Nickel, Red Horse squadron out of Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. He was deployed in February 2013 to Afghanistan and just returned on October 22.
Upon Ron’s return from deployment, his brothers, Brian and Mike, as well as his stepfather, wanted to fly to Nellis AFB to welcome Ron home. I am grateful and honored to share that we are in the company of to some of our very own heroes right here at Southwest Airlines. Two of our Flight Attendants, along with one of our Pilots, offered their Guest Passes to me, which made it possible for family members to accompany me to welcome my husband home! I am honored to work for such a fantastic Company that has such a wonderful Culture and Employees with Servant Hearts who would donate their hard-earned Guest Passes in order to welcome home a soldier.
After nine long months and 37.5 hours of traveling from the other side of the globe, Ron arrived at Nellis AFB. I, my son, and a few family members finally got to hug our hero! Having his family present in that hangar when he arrived back in the USA was tremendously important to Ron and profoundly emotional for our family. Some of his fellow soldiers had no one to greet them, no one to hold them tightly after finally coming home from proudly serving their country. I am forever grateful to have my hero home.
This week, we are celebrating all of our Military Heroes who have given so much for our freedoms. If you have a military hero of your own you are celebrating this season, please share your photos with us by tagging them with #MilitaryHeroes and #Celebrate.
Upon Ron’s return from deployment, his brothers, Brian and Mike, as well as his stepfather, wanted to fly to Nellis AFB to welcome Ron home. I am grateful and honored to share that we are in the company of to some of our very own heroes right here at Southwest Airlines. Two of our Flight Attendants, along with one of our Pilots, offered their Guest Passes to me, which made it possible for family members to accompany me to welcome my husband home! I am honored to work for such a fantastic Company that has such a wonderful Culture and Employees with Servant Hearts who would donate their hard-earned Guest Passes in order to welcome home a soldier.
After nine long months and 37.5 hours of traveling from the other side of the globe, Ron arrived at Nellis AFB. I, my son, and a few family members finally got to hug our hero! Having his family present in that hangar when he arrived back in the USA was tremendously important to Ron and profoundly emotional for our family. Some of his fellow soldiers had no one to greet them, no one to hold them tightly after finally coming home from proudly serving their country. I am forever grateful to have my hero home.
This week, we are celebrating all of our Military Heroes who have given so much for our freedoms. If you have a military hero of your own you are celebrating this season, please share your photos with us by tagging them with #MilitaryHeroes and #Celebrate.