Tiffany Gabbay, TheBlaze — “I have been flying with Delta for a gazillion years and this crew treated Chris worse than you’d treat any thing, not even any body.” That was the opening line of retired Army Lt. Col. Keith Gafford, during a phone interview about the egregious treatment on Delta Airlines of fellow veteran, Marine Lance Cpl. Christian Brown, who is now a double amputee following severe injuries acquired while serving in Afghanistan.“I did 27 years in the military. I have seen a lot of things and have seen a lot of guys die, but I have never seen a Marine cry,” added Gafford. “What the kid said was, ‘I have given everything that I can give and this is the way I am being treated? This is how I will be treated for the rest of my life?’”
Gafford’s stern words came in defense of Brown, who just last Sunday was “humiliated” to the point of tears during a Delta flight from Atlanta to Washington. According to the Washington Post, the Marine was treated disrespectfully and clumsily when he was wheeled to the very back of the plane.
To make matters worse, retired Army Col. Nickey Knighton, who along with Gafford were on board at the time provided a detailed and scathing “customer care” report to Delta, after others vets attempted to move Brown from coach to a first class seat offered by another flyer, but were refused by the in-flight crew. WaPo provides context including the fact that Brown was ill with a 104 degree temperature at the during the flight.
[...] Meanwhile, Delta communications spokesman Michael R. Thomas offered an email-statement addressing Knighton’s letter:“The story in no way reflects either Delta’s standard operating procedure or the very high regard we hold for our nation’s service members. We are sorry for the difficulties that transpired and are investigating this event to determine the appropriate next steps.”
When Thomas was pressed on what those next steps might be, he replied by email: “As previously stated, we are actively looking into the incident and have no additional details to share at this time.”
At the end of the day, what matters most to Knighton is that other wounded warrior are not degraded or treated in such a disrespectful manner.
“I don’t want another wounded warrior, a veteran, or anyone with any type of disability to be handled in this fashion. It was just senseless to me to the point of, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’”
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About the Author
Tiffany Gabbay has been a writer and communications specialist for the past decade. Her passion for politics was fostered at an early age by her father, a successful entrepreneur and war hero. Tiffany worked as a Journalist on Capitol Hill where she interviewed some of the Beltway's biggest names, and also served as Deputy Director of a Republican Women’s advocacy group. Prior to her time in the beltway, Tiffany spent a number of years in the U.K. where she began her career in publishing. She started out in London's insurance and risk management industry as associate publisher for a popular trade publication, and later served as global communications manager for an international insurance trade body based in Manchester. She is a graduate of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C. and studied communications at the London Institute.