A Marine Corps veteran with over two decades of service was forced to remove her t-shirt and deplane at San Francisco International Airport after a Delta Airlines employee claimed her shirt displayed a “threatening” message. Catherine Banks, a veteran with 22 years of service in the Marine Corps and 15 years in the Air Force, was told by a male flight attendant that she needed to leave the plane due to her attire.
The message on her shirt? “Do Not Give In To The War Within. End Veteran Suicide.” The shirt, sold by Til Valhalla Project, supports mental health awareness for veterans and raises funds for therapy and memorials for soldiers lost to suicide. Despite the positive message, the flight attendant said the shirt posed a risk to other passengers.
Banks, who was traveling to visit her Marine sister, expressed disbelief. “Are you kidding me? I’m a Marine Corps vet,” she told the attendant. However, the employee was unmoved, stating, “I don’t care about your service, and I don’t care about her service.”
Banks, who wasn’t wearing a bra beneath her shirt, had to change into a sweatshirt on the jet bridge before being allowed back on the flight. Despite complying, she was denied her original seat, which she had paid extra for, and was forced to sit in the back of the plane. The delay also caused her to miss a connecting flight.
Delta Airlines, which allows the removal of passengers if their attire causes offense or annoyance, reached out to Banks on Friday, offering to “make it right,” though no formal resolution has been announced yet.