A California veteran was kicked off a Delta Air Lines flight because her shirt had a message about veteran suicide rates in the US.
Catherine Banks was supposed to leave San Francisco on Wednesday, but instead a flight attendant forced her off the plane and found her shirt “threatening.”
The T-shirt read: “Don’t give in to the war within.” End veteran suicide.’
Banks, a Marine Corps veteran, said the flight attendant approached her and said, ‘Ma’am… you need to get off the plane.’
‘I feel like my soul has just been taken away from me. I’m not a bad person, and that t-shirt. “I should be allowed to support myself and the veterans,” Banks said.
But it wasn’t until he disembarked and stood on the bridge of the plane that the attendant told him why he had been asked to get off the plane.
“He said that shirt you’re wearing is threatening,” Banks said. NBC.
“I said, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m a Marine Corps veterinarian. I’m going to see my sister in the Navy. I’m going to see my sister in the Navy. I have been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and worked for the Air Force for 15 years. I’m going to visit her.”
But the flight attendant was unmoved by Banks’ service record.
“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 T-shirt read: “Don’t give in to the war within.” End veteran suicide.’
Banks called the experience ‘humiliating’ and the incident delayed the flight
Because she wasn’t wearing a bra, Banks had to turn her back to the flight attendant while she put on her sweatshirt.
When the Marine Corps veterinarian was finally let back on the plane, she was not allowed to sit in the seat with extra legroom for which she had paid an extra fee.
Instead, he was ordered to sit in the back of the plane.
The flight was delayed, causing Banks to miss her connecting flight.
Banks called the experience “humiliating.”
‘I feel like my soul has just been taken away from me. I’m not a bad person, and that t-shirt. I should be allowed to support myself and the veterans.
According to United Service Organizations, veteran suicides are currently at a record high.
In 2021, research established that ‘30,177 active-duty personnel and veterans who served in the military after 9/11 died by suicide, compared to 7,057 combat deaths in those same 20 years,’ the USO states in your website.
The T-shirt Banks was wearing is sold by the Til Valhalla Project, a group that commemorates soldiers by raising money so families can buy commemorative plaques in honor of their loved ones.
When the Marine Corps veterinarian was finally let back on the plane, she was not allowed to sit in the extra legroom seat for which she had paid an extra fee.
They also help struggling veterans pay for therapy sessions.
Banks said the shirt summed up the work he did for other veterans. In 2016, he received media attention for his attempt to raise $150,000 to make the home of a Marine who lost arms and legs in Afghanistan more accessible.
When asked at the time why he felt the need to help other veterans, he said, “I just have to do it.”
“I won’t feel complete if I don’t reach out and see if there’s something I can do.”
An airline spokesperson told SFGATE it is eager to speak with the passenger.
“Delta is attempting to contact the customer directly to hear more so we can begin investigating what occurred,” they said.
DailyMail.com has contacted Delta Air Lines for comment.