Sun, Jul 06, 2003
They're Asking Airlines To Give Soldiers On Leave A Better
Break
Can you imagine
anything more heartbreaking than a soldier with time on his hands
and no way to get to his loved ones?
That's just what military families in the San Francisco Bay area
say they're facing as they try to get some scant face-time with
active duty troops.
The issue is worse if the soldier in question has been wounded.
Take one Bay area mother who was floored when she found out it
would take more than a thousand bucks to get her son, wounded by
shrapnel, from his military hospital in Washington (DC) home to San
Ramone (CA), then to his duty station at Ft. Benning (GA).
In that case, the "special" military rate was a mere $30 off the
regular price of a ticket bought on five-days' notice.
Get Mom to fix it. She can fix anything.
Blue Star Moms got into
the act by launching a nationwide campaign aimed at convincing
commercial carriers to give soldiers the lowest possible fare with
no advance purchase.
The Blue Star Moms not only want the lowest possible air fare
for their sons and daughters on active military duty. They want all
cancellation fees waived, no change fees and no advanced booking
restrictions. They want to see their children -- especially knowing
they have been or are going to be in harm's way.
The Blue Star Moms has convinced members of Congress to insert
some friendly language into a House aviation bill. It urges -- but
doesn't require -- airlines to comply. But leave it to Mom. We both
know she'll be ringing the phones off the walls on Capitol
Hill.
And by the way, Mom says you're not eating enough...
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