Family of slain soldier booed on flight

IT TURNS out the most privileged people on a flight can be the least understanding, as the devastated family of his heroic, slain soldier has discovered.

US Army Sgt John Perry was killed in a suicide bombing in Bagram, Afghanistan. His family said they were booed on a flight as they travelled to meet his remains. Picture: AP/Department of Defense

THE family of a heroic soldier who died stopping a suicide bomber were left in tears after plane passengers booed them off a flight.

Stewart Perry was travelling with his wife Kathy and daughter Anita on a delayed American Airlines flight to meet his son’s remains when the incident happened, The Sun reported.

The family from Sacramento, California, had been given special permission by the captain to leave before any other passengers when the plane landed in Phoenix, Arizona, so they could catch a connecting flight to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

However, as airline staff were letting the family out of the plane, some passengers seated in the first class section began booing and complaining even though they were told a “special military family” would be exiting first.

Mr Perry, who is also a military veteran, said the family were left in tears. He told The Record: “Some people were saying ‘this is just baloney’ and ‘I paid first-class for this?’ It was just disgusting behaviour from people in first class; it was terrible to see. You could see the disappointment from the flight crew.”

He said the American Airlines staff “did everything they could” to accommodate the family and that the pilot who was taking them to Philadelphia waited at the gate for 40 minutes so they could make it on board.

He told local news broadcaster KOVR that the booing “was really upsetting and it made us cry some more”.

After landing in Philadelphia the family travelled to Dover air force base in the neighbouring state of Delaware for the arrival of their heroic son’s remains.

Among the people paying their respects was US Vice President Joe Biden who stood with the family and saluted their son as he was brought off the military plane.

Sergeant John Perry, 30, died last Saturday at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan when he stopped a suicide bomber from reaching a group of soldiers taking part in a 5km run to raise money for disabled veterans.

He died alongside US Army soldier Tyler Lubelt and two Army contractors.

His father says they undoubtedly saved more than 100 lives after preventing the suicide bomber from reaching his target.

Mr Stewart said that disrespect shown towards military families was something that needed to be addressed and highlighted President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks about the Khan family, whose son Humayun died in the line of duty.

He said: “One example would be Donald Trump speaking badly about a Gold Star family, who I now am, but it also bothers me that people don’t want to talk about the terrorism that killed my kid.”

Sgt Perry leaves behind his wife of eight years Julianne and their two young children — Lena, 5, and Gavin, 4.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help support the family and has raised more than $23,000 so far.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.