Many people who are in the military have to spend time away from their families. In some cases, it may be during a time when a skirmish or perhaps even a war is taking place. It can be difficult to leave, and equally difficult to say goodbye for those who are watching you go away.
When Bryan Knight was only five years old, he felt the pain of saying goodbye to his father. It took place at the Dallas Love Field Airport, and more than 50 years have passed since that time. Little did he know that he would never speak to his father after that goodbye.
The year was 1967, and his father, Col. Roy Knight Jr. was sent off to Vietnam. He was flying as a US Air Force pilot when he went missing in action after being shot down. Unfortunately, as occurred with many families during that time, very little closure was given because they couldn’t get his body back to the states – or even confirm he’d been killed.
That changed recently.
Search and rescue teams looked for his remains but they were unable to find them. In September 1974, he was officially declared dead and the thought was that they would never find him. The site of the crash was located, however, and his body was recovered and identified. It was 50 years later, but his father was finally coming home.
Like his father, Bryan is a pilot, but rather than flying for the U.S. Air Force, he flies for Southwest Airlines. He is also an Air Force veteran, and he decided to escort his father home.
From Canadian reporter Jackson Proskow at Love Field this morning.”I’m at the airport in Dallas, waiting for my flight…
Posted by 99.5 The Wolf on Thursday, August 8, 2019
In an interview with Southwest, he said: “At the end of the war, I remember as a kid watching every single POW come off those airplanes and I watched every one of them. Your job and your duty as a family, and as a child, is to have hope. But as a kid, what you really think is if you don’t do that you’re somehow gonna be responsible for him being lost.”
The moment was witnessed by many when the plane touched down in Texas. Those at the airport terminal came to the window to see what happened.
According to 99.5 The Wolf, reporter Jackson Prosko shared that something incredible was happening at the airport. They were waiting at the gate and told that Captain Knight was returning home to Dallas. They then learned the story, that it was the same airport where he said goodbye to his five-year-old son five decades before.
His return brought closure to the family and it also gave some answers that they had been looking for. It’s a moment that far too few families are able to experience, but it’s one that provides hope in special ways.