Alaska Airlines ‘powerful and special’ salute to fallen members of the military, son of Alaska flight attendant  

Alaska’s twelfth fallen soldier cart, in honor of SPC Hunter Schmidtke, was made and delivered by our upkeep & engineering workforce. It can stay in our care but additionally be obtainable for any airline at Kansas Metropolis Worldwide Airport transporting the stays of a fallen service members.

Tightly gripping her son’s Military beret, Julia Schmidtke, an Alaska flight attendant, just lately received to see the fallen soldier cart inbuilt honor of her son, SPC Hunter Schmidtke, at Alaska’s Upkeep Hangar in Seattle. 

Twenty-five-year-old Hunter Schmidtke, died in 2018 whereas serving at Fort Riley, Kansas. The particular cart was delivered to Kansas Metropolis Worldwide Airport on Tuesday the place it will likely be used to move the stays of fallen members of the navy from any airplane that wants it. 

Designed and crafted by Alaska upkeep and engineering workers—some veterans, some not—the particular cart is supposed to honor heroes like Hunter, who gave every little thing for his or her nation. 

That is an unimaginable factor and means a lot to Gold Star households like ours,” Julia stated. “In a method it’s like he’s going again to serve his nation.” 

Julia and her household are a part of the navy’s Gold Star Program, which represents households and family members who’ve skilled a lack of an instantaneous member of the family who died as the results of navy service.  

She proudly wears her Gold Star pin on her uniform when she flies. “It’s a small method I hold his reminiscence alive, and it reminds me that he’s all the time with me and near my coronary heart,” she says. Julia has been a flight attendant with us for 9 years. 

In 2018, Hunter’s stays had been introduced residence on our Honoring These Who Serve Plane, it was the primary time a fallen soldier who was associated to a member of the family at Alaska Airways was flown by the particular plane. His brother, Trevor, was so moved by the respect Alaska paid to his brother and household, he utilized to be a flight attendant and presently flies with us right this moment.  

“It was a strong and extremely transferring expertise to see everybody come collectively for Hunter and our household,” Julia stated. 

At Alaska, there’s one cart reserved for heroes. 

For over a decade, Alaska has had a company-wide program designed to make sure navy households just like the Schmidtke’s are handled with the utmost respect. 

Every distinctive fallen soldier cart is crafted by our Upkeep & Engineering workforce and is stationed at airports across the nation. They’re obtainable to honor members and veterans of all branches of the navy. 

Particularly designed and devoted to fallen service members, every cart is adorned with American flag curtains and the insignia of the 5 branches of the navy to make sure the fallen will probably be surrounded with respect and honor by those that accompany them on their ultimate journey. 

This yr’s cart was assembled in Seattle after which pushed to Kansas Metropolis by Alaska upkeep workers underneath escort by Patriot Guard Riders, who volunteer to accompany the cart all through its total journey. It’s additionally the primary cart to be delivered because the starting of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Kevin Kruse, a line plane technician coach and one of many creators of the Fallen Soldier Program notes Alaska additionally established protocols for airline workers to comply with when a service member’s physique is touring, which has set the precedent for the trade.  

That is our method to have troopers’ backs and supply them with the service they deserve on their ultimate journey residence, in order that households like Julia’s know that individuals cared about what they did,” Kruse says. “You may by no means take away their ache, however you possibly can all the time present you care.” 

Along with Kansas Metropolis, we’ll ship our thirteenth cart to San Jose Worldwide Airport later this yr. Alaska has devoted carts in Fairbanks, Phoenix, Anchorage, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Washington, D.C., Dallas and San Francisco. Whereas the carts stay underneath Alaska’s care at every airport, they’re obtainable for any airline to make use of when transporting stays of fallen service members. 

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