{"id":12952,"date":"2019-05-28T16:26:18","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T16:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=12952"},"modified":"2019-05-28T16:27:04","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T16:27:04","slug":"aa-honor-guard-ensures-dignified-respectful-transfer-of-the-fallen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/aa-honor-guard-ensures-dignified-respectful-transfer-of-the-fallen\/%20","title":{"rendered":"AA Honor Guard ensures dignified, respectful transfer of the fallen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

American Airlines (AA) Customer Care Manager Linda Kozma remembers it was a cold and rainy day, business as usual at Chicago\u2019s O\u2019Hare International Airport (ORD). As she walked the concourse, she noticed a military human remains transfer from the gate. Nothing atypical \u2014 small somber crew, flag draped \u2014 but nothing she had seen before. \u201cMy heart was aching for the loss \u2014 for the grieving family, for our country, for this soldier\u2019s fellow troops,\u201d she said. \u201cThat image is forever a part of me. In that moment, I said to myself, \u2018We need to do better.\u2019 And we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Linda Kozma, center, joins fellow Chicago team members at a recent event honoring our military service members. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Linda, a founding member of the ORD chapter of the Veteran\nMilitary Employee Business Resource Group, knew her fellow team members would\nfeel as passionately as she did. They worked with branches of the military to\ndevelop a protocol for handling the remains of fallen soldiers from aircraft to\nhearse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt it was time to dedicate ourselves to ensuring both\nthe dignity and respect for the deceased,\u201d she said. \u201cWe learned how to\nidentify and meet the needs of the military and the families of the deceased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protocol Linda and her coworkers developed is currently\nused at ORD and is a result of a handful of dedicated team members who\nrecognized a need to better honor our fallen service members. Similar processes\nare used at hubs across the system, where local Honor Guards conduct these\nceremonies daily. The coordinated process involves many team members working\nbehind the scenes from Flight, Flight Service, Control Center, Fleet Service,\nCustomer Care and Cargo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
American Airlines Honor Guard assists in the dignified transfer of military remains at DFW. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is the actions of the American Airlines Honor Guard that\nmost witness from the gates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In coordination with every branch of service, the Honor\nGuard conducts planeside ceremonies as the service member is transported from\nan aircraft to a hearse. It is a dignified ceremony that was designed to pay\ntribute to their sacrifice and show appreciation and compassion for their\nfamilies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Made of volunteer team members, the Honor Guard is dedicated\nto serving fallen military and ensuring their return is given the utmost\ndignity, honor and respect while in the airline\u2019s care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the year, American supports military and veterans initiatives that care for our troops when they need it most. Across the network, team members can join the Veteran Employee Business Resource Group that directs each location\u2019s military support initiatives. For more information on how American supports military and veteran initiatives, visit aa.com\/ourheroes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Airlines (AA) Customer Care Manager Linda Kozma remembers it was a cold and rainy day, business as usual at Chicago\u2019s O\u2019Hare International Airport (ORD). As she walked the concourse, she noticed a military human remains transfer from the gate. Nothing atypical \u2014 small somber crew, flag draped \u2014 but nothing she had seen before. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Honor-Guard-salute.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12957,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952\/revisions\/12957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}