The following vignette emphasizes the honor we owe our servicemen.
I put my carry-on in the  luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned  seat. It was going to be a long flight. ‘I’m  glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will  get a short nap,’ I thought.

Just before take-off,  a line of soldiers came down the aisle and  filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding  me. I decided to start a conversation.

‘Where are you headed?’ I asked the soldier seated nearest to  me. ‘Petawawa. We’ll be there for two  weeks for special training, and then we’re being  deployed to Afghanistan    After flying for about an hour, an announcement was  made that sack lunches were available for five  dollars… It would be several hours before we  reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch  would help pass the time…

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if  he planned to buy lunch. ‘No, that seems  like a lot of money for just a sack lunch.  Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks.  I’ll wait till we get to base.’    His friend agreed.    I looked around at the  other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked  to the back of the plane and handed the flight  attendant a fifty dollar bill.  ‘Take a  lunch to all those soldiers.’ She grabbed my  arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with  tears, she thanked me. ‘My son was a soldier in  Iraq ; it’s almost like you are doing it for  him.’  Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the  soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and  asked, ‘Which do you like best – beef or  chicken?’ ‘Chicken,’ I replied,  wondering why she asked. She turned and went to  the front of plane, returning a minute later  with a dinner plate from first class.    ‘This is your thanks.’

After we finished  eating, I went again to the back of the plane,  heading for the rest room.  A man stopped me. ‘I saw what you did. I want to  be part of it… Here, take this.’ He handed me  twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned  to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down  the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he  walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but  noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my  side of the plane. When he got to my row he  stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, ‘I  want to shake your hand.’ Quickly unfastening my  seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand.  With a booming voice he said, ‘I was a soldier  and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought  me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never  forgot.’ I was embarrassed when applause was  heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the  front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A  man who was seated about six rows in front of me  reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He  left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.    When we landed I  gathered my belongings and started to deplane…  Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man  who stopped me, put something in my shirt  pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a  word. Another twenty-five dollars!
Upon entering the  terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their  trip to the base. I walked over to  them and handed them seventy-five dollars. ‘It  will take you some time to reach the base.   It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.’  Ten young  men left that flight feeling the love and  respect of their fellow travelers.    As I walked briskly to  my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe  return. These soldiers were giving their all for  our country. I could only give them a couple of  meals. It seemed so little…

A veteran is someone  who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank  check made payable to ‘The United States of  America ‘ for an amount of ‘up to and  including my life.’    That is Honor, and  there are way too many people in this country  who no longer understand it.’