A California veteran was apparently removed from a Delta Air Lines flight on Wednesday because of the shirt she was wearing.
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Catherine Banks was supposed to be on a flight out of San Francisco International Airport when a flight attendant got her attention, NBC Bay Area reported on Thursday.
Her T-shirt had the words, “Do not give in to the war within. End veteran suicide” printed on it. An image shows Banks:
According to the Daily Mail’s report on the incident, “The shirt Banks was wearing is sold by the Til Valhalla Project, a group that commemorates soldiers by raising money for families so that they can purchase memorial plaques that honor their loved ones.”
According to Banks, the male flight attendant told her she needed to exit the plane, which confused her.
Once she left the plane and was on the jet bridge, the flight attendant reportedly told her the reason why he got her attention and asked her to deplane. Banks recalled, “He said that shirt you’re wearing is threatening”:
I said, “Are you kidding me? I’m a Marine Corps vet. I’m going to see my Marine sister. I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and worked for the Air Force for 15 years. I’m going to visit her.” He said, “I don’t care about your service, and I don’t care about her service. The only way you’re going to get back on the plane is if you take it off right now.”
The veteran explained she was not wearing a bra at the time. Therefore, she had to turn around to put on a sweatshirt so the flight attendant could not see her.
Although the veteran eventually reboarded the plane, she was told to find a seat in the rear of the aircraft. Per the NBC article, the airline later contacted Banks to resolve the situation.
Banks told the outlet, “I feel like they just took my soul away. I’m not a bad person, and that T-shirt, I should be allowed to support myself and veterans.”
In March 2023, the Veterans Crisis Line reportedly fielded a record number of calls, texts, and chats, per Breitbart News.
“We’re on the front end of a mental health tsunami,” Scott Mann, a retired Army Green Beret lieutenant colonel, said at the time.
In January, a soldier in the U.S. Army, who was a mother and well-known social media influencer, died by suicide, Breitbart News reported.
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