This morning I received an email from the brother of a Marine in the unit referenced below. The email speaks for itself and raises some disturbing questions. While outside OC, it's an issue that is worth sharing. The text below is unedited, although I have removed the name of the Marine who authored the email:
Marines and Soldiers Returning from Iraq not allowed into Oakland terminal
On September 27th 204 Marines and soldiers who were returning from Iraq were not allowed into the passenger terminal at Oakland International Airport.Instead they had to deplane about 400 yards away from the terminal where the extra baggage trailers were located.
This was the last scheduled stop for fuel and food prior to flying to Hawaii where both were based. The trip started in Kuwait on September 26th with a rigorous search of checked and carry on baggage by US Customs. All baggage was x-rayed with a "backscatter" machine AND each bag was completely emptied and hand searched. After being searched, checked bags were marked and immediately placed in a secure container. Carry on bags were then x rayed again to ensure no contraband items were taken on the plane. While waiting for the bus to the airport, all personnel were in quarantined in a fenced area and were not allowed to leave.
The first stop for fuel/food and crew change was in Leipzig Germany. Troops exited the aircraft and took a bus to a reception area in the terminal, where there was a convenience store, phones, Internet and restrooms. As we exited the bus we were given a re-boarding pass. Three troops remained on the plane with the rifles and pistols. There was no ammunition on the plane and the bolts of the rifles had been removed. After about 2 hours troops re-boarded the plane and flew to JFK in NY.
At JFK the procedure was similar to Germany, 3 troops stayed on the plane to guard weapons while the rest deplaned. At the gate we were each given a re-boarding pass and spent about 1.5 hours in the terminal, at which time we re-boarded and flew to Oakland.
As we came in for the final approach to Oakland a Lieutenant who served in Afghanistan with the same unit in 2006 mentioned how when they landed in Oakland they were not allowed in the terminal. He said, "they made us get out by the FED EX building and we had to sit out there for 3 hours". He also indicated he was almost arrested by the TSA for getting belligerent about them not letting the Marines into the terminal.
Well, the same thing happened again. This time we did not park by the FED EX building, instead we were offloaded near the grass that separates the active runway from the taxi ramp, about 400 yards from the terminal. When we inquired why they wouldn't allow us in the airport they gave us some lame excuse that we hadn't been screened by TSA. While true, the screening which we did have was much more thorough than any TSA search and was done by US Customs. Additionally, JFK didn't seem to have a problem with our entering their terminal, nor did security in Germany.
It felt like being spit on. Every Marine and soldier felt the message loud and clear, "YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN OAKLAND!"
Being a Marine on that plane, this story is True. It was our Chaplain who wrote the email, which he also took and sent pictures of the Marines and soldiers sitting in old baggage carts. The lay over was only about 2 hours but we made the best of it. The Marines who had family that came to visit was allowed to travel and see thier family and friends.
Coming back from Iraq, we all felt it was, alot of words i cannot post, but in the end we smoked, talked on our cell phones, stretch our legs and just enjoyed the green grass. Flying home is simple and it was with NAA ( North American Airlines), everyone is just happy to be home. Oakland Airport couldn't break the thoughts of all the freedom we are about to enjoy.
To Oakland Airport come on you have to be kidding me. We were searched for 3 hours by U.S. Customs and you think your security can beat that. Thanks for the welcome home mat.
To you who think this story is false, kiss my white Irish ass. Sign a contract and go play in the sand with us.
For all of you who are awesome and support your troops. Thank you, it means alot. Cheers and remember you are the reason we come home.
Posted by: Duff | October 04, 2007 at 01:43 PM
I emailed the Oakland Airport to voice my displeasure at what took place. My husband who served in the Marine Corps told me of this story which he had heard on talk radio. I was in total disbelief!! I am the mother of a newly graduated United States Marine (Graduated Sept 7, 2007, MCRD San Diego) and a native Californian who finds the treatment of our service men unacceptable. I have passed along this story to my friends and family.....everyone has been surprised by this story because our substandard newspapers and news media fail to report such stories, they prefer to tell us about Brittney Spears and her troubles WHO CARES!
I choose not to sit by.... I gave voice to my opinions on this matter and I hope others will too. God Bless America and all of the brave men and women who have served in our military forces, we enjoy freedoms that other countries only dream about because of these brave Americans.....THANK YOU!
Posted by: Jamie | October 04, 2007 at 07:30 PM
I am a retired Marine from WWII, who fought to keep this country free as Marines are doing now in Iraq. I was born and raised in Oakland, Ca. which I thought was in the USA but now wonder? The USMC and other miltary units keep liberal Oakland and San Francisco free only to be treated as outcasts. I'm disgusted with Oakland and it's airport, I will never go back there, the liberals have gone overboard they are anti-American, let's ship them off to keep us free! Ha, what a joke.
Posted by: James Packard USMC RET. | October 05, 2007 at 08:08 AM
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Official gives different account of layover
OAKLAND: Contractor says three soldiers who had commitments were allowed off plane
By Erik N. Nelson
STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 10/05/2007 03:08:04 AM PDT
Related
Oct 3:
Oakland Airport apologizes to troopsOne went to the Oakland International Airport terminal to see his fiancée. One visited his uncle. A third service member obtained a ticket to fly to Houston to see a sick family member.
The three were among nearly 200 U.S. troops returning from Iraq painted by political blogs and talk shows as victims of the Bay Area's hatred of the military.
Airport officials' lack of respect for the military allowed North American Airlines charter Flight 1777 to be shunted off to a lonely section of tarmac without bathrooms, eateries or a place to buy a magazine, conservative pundits and bloggers said this week of the Sept. 27 incident.
The account offered by the manager of a ground support contractor who tended to the troops' needs paints a different picture of the two-hour layover.
The plane was parked on the tarmac, said Michael Sawley, station manager for Hilltop Aviation, hired by North American to reprovision its planes at Oakland. As airport management has contended, the perceived slight was because Sawley informed them that the plane contained weapons and its passengers had not been cleared by the Transportation Security Administration.
But when Sawley learned some of the military passengers needed to get to the terminal, he took them there.
"A sergeant came up to me and said, 'I have a couple of men here that were hoping to see friends and family,'" Sawley recalled.
Sawley said he drove the three men in his company's Ford Aerostar minivan to the front
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of the terminal, where one of them met his fiancée, one met with an uncle and a third service member went to the Southwest Airlines ticket counter to obtain a ticket to Houston, where he needed to visit an ailing family member.
"The three guys who made their request known through their (commanding officer), we were able to help them out," Sawley said.
Airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said that after the three men had been accommodated, airport representatives also visited the plane.
"We spoke to the commander of that group, and he said there were no complaints, that they didn't need any more attention from us," Barnes said.
Sawley also noted that passengers from an earlier military charter that arrived at Oakland the same day from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C., were allowed to enter the passenger terminal.
The main difference between the two flights is that the first had no weapons and the second did, Sawley said, adding that if weapons are on an aircraft, it's normal for the airport to park it away from the terminal.
Since the story broke this week, airport officials have been deluged with complaints from across the nation, as well as requests to talk to media outlets and talk shows such as Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes."
Fox News helped focus nationwide attention by publicizing the complaint of a Marine chaplain who e-mailed his account of the layover to Michael Ledeen, a contributing editor to conservative magazine National Review.
The incident was compared to Vietnam War veterans' memories of being spat upon by Bay Area opponents of that war.
But the airport was remembered as a welcoming place by retired Staff Sgt. Mike Miles, who served until 2005 as the public affairs noncommissioned officer in charge at Camp Parks in Dublin.
"We got tremendous cooperation from them," Miles said of the airport's management, when the division sought to arrange a welcoming event for soldiers returning from Iraq in 2004. "It was extremely successful."
Families were brought inside the secure boarding area -- normally only for ticket-holding passengers -- and allowed to meet the soldiers as soon as they emerged from the jetway, Miles said.
After the greeting, an airline employee announced the arrival over a loudspeaker.
"These guys got a standing ovation from everybody on the concourse," Miles said. "I would say they got a pretty good welcome."
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Posted by: GINO NELSON | October 05, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Saw this as I was trying to google if theres a USO at Oakland airport. Guess what haha.
Who the F wants to step foot in Oakland anyway? Marines protect a whole nations worth of better places to hang out.
Posted by: SSG Nate | November 18, 2008 at 11:19 PM