A Marine Corps veteran, Catherine Banks, was asked to get down a Delta flight because the crew told her that her t-shirt had a ‘threatening’ message. “Are you kidding me?” Banks told the male flight attendant but was asked to change her t-shirt or get off the plane. “Do Not Give In To The War Within. End Veteran Suicide,” her shirt read. Banks said her shirt was to bring awareness to the issue of suicide among veterans as estimated 22 veterans commit suicide every day.
“I’m a Marine Corps vet.I’m going to see my Marine sister. I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and worked for the Air Force for 15 years. I’m going to visit her,” Banks told the flight attendant.
“I don’t care about your service, and I don’t care about her service. The only way you’re going to get back on the plane is if you take it off right now,” the flight attendant told Banks.
“I feel like they just took my soul away. I’m not a bad person, and that T-shirt, I should be allowed to support myself and veterans,” Banks said.
Banks had a sweatshirt with her which she wore following which she was allowed to be on the plane but not the seat — with extra legroom — that she paid for. She was instructed to sit in the back of the plane. The episode delayed the flight causing Banks to miss her connecting flight.
According to reports, the shirt Banks was wearing is sold by the Til Valhalla Project, a group that commemorates soldiers by raising money for families so that they can purchase memorial plaques that honor their loved ones.
Banks said that the T-shirt summed up the work she did for other veterans. In 2016, she received media attention for her attempt to raise $150,000 to make the home of a Marine who lost his arms and legs in Afghanistan more accessible.
