Feature Stories
Airport Stories - A Lone Soldier Flies in on a Mission.
There are so many interesting people that walk the terminals at JFK International Airport. Sometimes, I just sit down and watch. In a blink of an eye, I see hundreds of people hurriedly traversing to-and-fro. I wonder where they’re going and who they’re going to meet. There’s your standard business commuter with his or her briefcase and laptop. There’s your typical traveler with three bags of luggage and maps sticking out of the carry-on. And then there are men and women of uniform. The members of the military traveling to a far off land or coming home for a few weeks of R&R. Some are coming home for good after completing their tour of duty.
It’s an image that repeats itself week after week and they represent all the armed forces; the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force. Their departures at the airport are often witnessed by crying loved ones. Their arrivals are moments never forgotten. I’ve seen soldiers literally stepping off the plane and dropping to their knees to kiss the ground. Almost always, family members are waiting for them, waving the red, white and blue. Sometimes there are even TV camera crews, attempting to catch a teary eyed moment for the evening news.
But today, I saw something different. A young man in uniform walked off the plane and there was no one to greet him. No flag waving and no TV camera. He arrived to a nearly empty terminal, with his one carry-on bag, and quietly headed outside to hail a cab. He was a lone soldier, walking proud in his uniform and glad to be back in the States.
Curious about his reason for being alone at the airport, I walked up to him and in my own way, I welcomed him home. So why was he alone, I asked? Hoping to not intrude or delve into a subject he might not want to discuss.
Although he looked sad and tired, he smiled and with a thick Southern accent, he gave me his name and the reason for his surreptitious arrival. With pride, he identified himself as Sergeant Brian Fitzgerald of the U.S. Army.
“Although I have been traveling for over 24 hours, I am ecstatic to be back in the United States,” Sgt. Fitzgerald blurted out. “My wife is having our first child and I am going to surprise her at the hospital.” At that moment I grinned. A surprise visit by a new father in uniform, I thought. Then Sgt. Fitzgerald continued with his story. “She has been staying with her parents here in New York and no one knows I’m comin’ home. They’ll all be surprised, that’s for sure,” he said.
After being deployed for six months in Iraq with an infantry unit out of Alabama, this Army Sergeant was able to take his leave and be home for the birth of his child.
“No offense but I’m gonna get goin’... I have a baby waitin’ to be born!” he said. As this soldier, a proud father, ran out of the airport and jumped in a taxi, I smiled, grateful that he wasn’t alone after all.
