Monday, May 29, 2023

How we spent our Memorial Day weekend

We spent our Memorial Day weekend saying goodbye to our military daughter.

We had a wonderful time during her visit, packing in as much as we could. Not just visits with old friends and taking a hiking trip, but engaging in endless conversations. She also fell in love with her parrot again.

On Saturday, I drove her to Spokane, where we spent the night in a hotel near the airport. On Sunday morning, still at the hotel, she made sure her dress-white uniform was neatly ironed.


Then I dropped her off at the airport, hugged her fiercely, and said goodbye.

The plan was for her to fly to the huge naval base in Norfolk, Virginia (with a layover in Denver), then take a military flight from Norfolk to Europe to report to her next duty station. But things went south in Denver when the flight to Norfolk was canceled.

Suddenly she's not only in limbo in Denver, but she's unable to fulfill her orders by reporting for duty. She's been trying to reach her Chain of Command in Europe (keeping in mind the time changes as well as the holiday, which U.S. service people observe even in other countries). The airline is only providing a single night's stay and two meals to compensate for the delay, even though the next flight to Norfolk isn't until Tuesday ... and the next military flight to Europe isn't until June 12!!

Anyway, the poor kid is trying to work through the entire mess. One of the things she's trying to do is contact the military travel organization to see if they'll authorize her a commercial flight to Europe.

So yeah, that's how we spent our Memorial Day weekend.

Meanwhile, a mighty "thank you" to our past and present veterans, whose sacrifices too many of us are willing to overlook, dismiss, or forget.

6 comments:

  1. Former Navy nurse here. Has she contacted the USO at the Denver airport? They really helped a lot of my students (I was an instructor at corps school) when they were stranded. Just a thought! God bless her and keep her safe!

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  2. Linh's beak needs trimming.

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    1. Actually, it was trimmed two days after this photo was taken.

      - Patrice

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  3. Have your daughter check with the military flight stations where she is at. She may be able to catch a hop from there directly to Europe. Dh was military retired before we met, so I recall some things he had to do to make to his next duty station.
    Hope this assists your daughter.

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  4. make sure she asks for a military letter from the airline as proof the flight was cancelled to present to her next command so they wont dock any extra leave.

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