Memories of a son as U.S. observes Memorial Day
San Francisco Sheet Metal Technician Tom Ballard shared this story, "What Memorial Day means to me," about his son, 1st Lt. Ken Ballard, who was killed in action in Iraq in 2004.
My only child, Kenneth Michael Ballard was born at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York, on July 21, 1977, in the fourth year of my 20-year career with the U.S. Air Force. His family lineage has been one full of military service to our nation. His great grandfather served in WWI, and both his grandfathers, his grandmother, father, uncles and cousins all served in the military, totaling some 117 years of service.
Ken joined the U.S. Army after graduating high school in 1995. Pvt. Ken Ballard's first assignment was with the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division, (General Patton's WWII unit "Old Ironsides") out of Friedberg, Germany. He was an Abrams tank ammunition loader, soon to be serving with our NATO forces in Bosnia and Macedonia.
His superiors saw he was a true leader. He was placed into a program called "From Green to Gold," a program that moved an individual from the enlisted ranks to become an officer.
In 1998, Ken took leave from active duty in Germany to attend Middle Tennessee State University. In 2002, Ken earned his degree in international relations. At Ken's commissioning ceremony, his mother and I pinned on his 2nd Lt. bars. (Bars I had made of pure gold.)
Returning to active duty, Ken started training to be an Abrams tank commander.
His first assignment was back to Friedberg, Germany, back with the 1st Armored. Within the year, their unit was given their orders to deploy. On the May 22, 2003, their unit crossed the border into Iraq – the start of their first-year tour of combat.
Three hundred sixty-five days later, the 1st Armored was ready to head home. They felt very blessed to have served their year in-country without having lost a single soldier. They had packed their personal gear and were ready to go. Time to pass the command over to the new incoming troops. "WE MADE IT. WE ARE GOING HOME!!!!!" All this was about to change.
Orders had been cut – the 1st Armored was placed on an involuntary extension. Insurgents were launching large-scale attacks into the twin cities of Al-Kufa and Al-Najaf, an area considered to be very sacred, holy land to the people of Iraq. Headquarters felt it would be wiser to send seasoned rather than inexperienced troops into an extremely hot combat zone.
On Memorial Day, May 30, 2004, eight days into their extension, the 1st Armored lost their first soldier. Pfc. Nicholas E. Zimmer, age 20, of Columbus, Ohio. His vehicle came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades. Eight hours later, while I was attending a gathering with friends at home, we raised our glasses in a toast, thanking those that have given their lives protecting freedom around the world. At precisely that time, halfway around the world, my son was lost.
Twelve hours later, I was back at work in central control at SFO Air Train. My brother in Denver called me. He asked where I was. I told him and asked why? He told me that two old military buddies were passing through the airport and knew that I worked there. They wanted to stop by and say hello. I told him where I was and hung up.
A few hours had passed. I forgot about my brother's call. I noticed our safety officer on the first floor CCTV monitor. He was holding the door open looking left and right as if he was looking for someone. I got distracted, and when I looked back he was gone.
A short while later, the safety officer entered central control and asked me to accompany him to his office.
As I opened his office door, I saw two sharply dressed men in their formal military uniforms. Nothing needed to be said. My life as I knew it had been changed. No more birthdays. No grandchildren.
The Ballards' unscathed military history of 117 years of service had changed overnight.
Ken's unit returned to the U.S. on the Fourth of July 2004.
Two months after my son died, a much respected friend who we all work with at UAL was notified his nephew, Spc. Anthony J. Dixon, was killed in Samarra, Iraq.
You may be surprised at the number of people you work with on a daily basis. Many have served defending our freedoms. Some silently carry the pain of the loss of a loved one – a loved one that stood in front of you, defending your freedoms.
Memorial Day has always held a very special place in my heart. Now more than ever.
Remember why we commemorate this day. MEMORIAL DAY.
Think about it, when we are all given the day off. Who has made this day possible?
Take the time this weekend to think of those that gave their lives so you can live yours with freedom.
We have operated more than 85 repatriation flights from Panama City, Guatemala City, Quito, Lima, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa and Roatan, bringing nearly 12,000 people home. We will continue working with government officials to operate extra flights to Houston from Quito, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa and from Lima to Washington Dulles and beginning April 5, we will begin operating multiple charter flights between Delhi and San Francisco. We continue to review more opportunities for flights between the United States and other countries to bring citizens home.
Video provided by the U.S. Embassy Ecuador of Americans returning home on United.
Additionally, our Customer Solutions and Recovery team is working with customers in the following markets to rebook them on flights back to the United States as capacity allows, either on our aircraft or on one of our airline partners' planes:
- Quito, Ecuador
- Managua, Nicaragua
- Roatan, Honduras
- San Pedro Sula, Honduras
- Amsterdam
- Brussels
- Munich
- Singapore
- Tokyo-Haneda
- Seoul, South Korea
- Melbourne, Australia
We also recently reinstated several international flights back into our schedule to support customers and essential businesses which depend on these routes. As a result, we will be the only airline to offer service between Newark/New York and London, San Francisco and Sydney, as well as Houston and São Paulo, Brazil.
Eligible travelers on domestic flights and international tickets can request a refund on united.com or may call our contact centers if their flights have been severely adjusted or service to their destination suspended either due to government mandates or United schedule reductions related to COVID-19.
Certain tickets cannot be changed on united.com or the mobile app, including tickets booked through another airline (if the ticket receipt does not begin with 016). Please contact the original ticketing airline for changes.
Follow the steps below to stay up to date, change or cancel your flight.
Change your current flight:
- On the united.com homepage, select "My Trips" and enter your flight information to retrieve your flight.
- Select "Change flight" and then "Edit" to make the following changes:
- Date of travel or destination
- Add a flight
- Remove a flight
- Select "Continue" and choose a new flight option
- Continue through booking to confirm your new flight
Note: The change fee will display as waived, but any difference in fare may apply.
Cancel your flight and rebook later:
- On the united.com homepage, select "My Trips" and enter your reservation information to retrieve your flight
- Select "Cancel flight"
- Confirm flight cancellation
- If you have future flight credit, when you return to the reservation, select "Use Future Flight Credit" to shop for new flights and apply the credit towards a new flight.
Canceling or changing an award flight:
When you select "Cancel flight," you will have the option to cancel your award reservation and redeposit the miles or to cancel your award reservation and use those miles for another trip in the future.
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Click through the slideshow below for more detailed instructions:
Start on the United homepage:
User can select 'My Trips' on the homepage widget to find and retrieve their reservation.
