Excuse us, we’re just sobbing over here.
Passengers on a flight landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport were left in tears when a grieving widow met the coffin of her army veteran husband on the tarmac.
Green Beret Shawn Thomas was an army veteran and married father of four based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 35-year-old Oklahoma native died earlier this month after a vehicle accident while on duty in Niger, Africa. Thomas, who received two Bronze Stars and four Good Conduct Medal during his service abroad, will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
His wife Tara, dressed entirely in black, stood over his flag-draped coffin on the tarmac of the North Carolina airport as plane passengers looked on. One passenger caught the emotional reunion on video and later said that the widow had asked her to share the video so that other Americans would realize the sacrifices made by military families. The footage shows military soldiers dutifully taking Thomas’ coffin off of the plane’s cargo hold, as the woman recording the video can be heard crying in the background.
“It was an honor to fly home with this PATRIOT!” said Lisa West Williams, who shared the now-viral video on her Facebook account. “God bless his wife and family. There was not a dry eye around me.”
Thank you for your service, Shawn Thomas. Watch the heartbreaking video below.
