A California veteran was taken off a Delta Air Lines flight because her T-shirt contained a message about veteran suicide rates in the US.
Catherine Banks was supposed to fly out of San Francisco on Wednesday, but instead she was forced off the plane by a flight attendant who found her shirt “threatening.”
The shirt read: ‘Don’t give in to the inner war. End veteran suicide.”
Banks, a Marine Corps veteran, said the male flight attendant approached her and said, “Ma’am…you need to get off the plane.”
‘I feel like they took my soul away. I’m not a bad person, and that T-shirt. I should be able to support myself and the veterans,” Banks said
But it wasn’t until she disembarked and stood on the jet bridge that the attendant told her why she was being asked to deplane.
“He said the shirt you’re wearing is threatening,” Banks said NBC.
“I said, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m a Marine Corps vet. I’m going to my Navy sister. I’m going to my Navy sister. I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and I’ve had fifteen worked for the Air Force for years. I’m going to visit her.”
But the flight attendant was not impressed with Banks’s record.
“He said, ‘I don’t care about your service, and I don’t care about her service either. The only way you can get back on the plane is if you take him off right away.”
The shirt read: ‘Don’t give in to the inner war. End veteran suicide.”
Banks called the experience “humiliating” and the incident delayed the flight
Because she wasn’t wearing a bra, Banks had to turn her back to the flight attendant as she put on her sweatshirt.
When the Marine Corps vet was finally allowed back on the plane, she was not allowed to sit in the extra legroom seat, for which she had paid an extra fee.
Instead, she was instructed to sit in the back of the plane.
The flight was delayed, causing Banks to miss her connecting flight.
Banks called the experience “humiliating.”
‘I feel like they took my soul away. I’m not a bad person, and that T-shirt. I should be able to support myself and veterans.”
According to United Service Organizations, the suicide rate among veterans is currently at an all-time high.
In 2021, research found that “30,177 active-duty service members and veterans who served in the military after September 11 died by suicide – compared to the 7,057 who died in combat over the same two decades,” the USO said on its website .
The shirt Banks wore is being sold by the Til Valhalla Project, a group that commemorates soldiers by raising money for families to purchase plaques in honor of their loved ones.
When the Marine Corps vet was finally allowed back on the plane, she was not allowed to sit in the extra legroom seat for which she had paid an extra fee
They also help struggling veterans pay for therapy sessions.
Banks said the T-shirt was a summary of the work she did for other veterans. In 2016, she gained media attention for her effort to raise $150,000 to make the home of a Marine who lost his arms and legs in Afghanistan more accessible.
When asked at the time why she felt the need to help other veterans, she said, “I just have to.”
“I won’t feel complete if I don’t reach out and see if I can do something.”
A spokesperson for the airline told SFGATE that it would like to speak with the passenger.
“Delta is attempting to contact the customer directly to find out more so we can investigate what happened,” they said.
DailyMail.com has contacted Delta Air Lines for comment.