A Delta Pilot Replies to United Airlines' Apology for Celebrating the Killing of Bin Laden

Mr. Swanson,

As a former pilot, retired from Delta Air Lines, I want to thank you for your article concerning a pilot celebrating the death of Bin Laden. I also want to thank you for writing the letter to United concerning his actions. It isn’t the first time a pilot has used his bully pulpit on an airplane to make a political statement, nor will it probably be the last. However, when a passenger calls one individual on inappropriate behavior, or, in this case, a public expression of ignorance, perhaps it will make it less likely to happen again.

I retired from Delta a few months after 9-11, and have spent far too much time trying to understanding why so many people have accepted the official story and subsequent reaction without question. I have been to all the web sites and read most of the books. I served as a Navy anti-submarine pilot during the Vietnam War and agree with your premise that “War is a Lie,” having read your excellent book. As an aside, Delta’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the subsequent loss of my pension probably makes my retirement part of the collateral damage from 9-11, but that is nothing compared to the violence and loss of life and property that has followed.

At any rate, please keep up the fight. To see yet another editorial from your desk is one of those bright spots I look for each day as I search for sanity on the Internet. Thanks again.

Rick Martin