Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Military Heroes Month: The Sacrifices for Freedom

egivens
Explorer C

We have some remarkable People walking the halls of Southwest Airlines, working around the system, and flying in our aircraft over America’s skies.  We work alongside individuals who have served in combat, downed enemy aircraft, and conducted covert missions deep behind enemy lines. Though they are from all walks of life, the central theme that runs through each of them is a deep understanding of sacrifice. The meaning of sacrifice to our Veterans comes from the highest ideals of human nature—these are men and women who “give up and surrender something else for something considered more important or valuable”—many times even their very lives.  I know Southwest Airlines Employees who’ve missed the births of their children or the deaths of their parents while away at war, all in sacrifice and service to their country.  Their families sacrificed in their absence, knowing America’s freedom and way of life depends on their serving this great nation. As moving and impactful as these examples of sacrifice are to me, one story stands out as an exemplary definition of sacrifice by one of our Employees.  Houston Flight Manager Mike Penn was downed by a surface-to-air missile in Vietnam flying missions for the Navy and spent more than ten months in the Hanoi Hilton in North Vietnam.  We were able to capture his unbelievable story and share it on Veterans Day a couple of years back.  The three-part video series we originally filmed for our Pilots features Mike humbly recounting his story, which sounds eerily like a Hollywood movie script. As you watch  each part of Mike’s journey, which I hope you will take the opportunity to sit down and view, and even share with your family and friends. The story will make you proud to be an American. I am proud of our great Company and the emphasis that we place on honoring our Veterans throughout the entire month of November.  Freedom certainly isn’t free, and if anyone understands the high value of sacrifice and service, it is our honored Veterans.  If you see or know someone who has served this United States of America, please take a moment to thank them for their service. November is Military Heroes Month at Southwest.  Share your photos using #Sacrifice and #MilitaryHeroes. Part 1: