Student Choir Sings Emotional Song To Honor Fallen Soldier As His Body Is Carried Off The Airplane

Brave men and women soldiers who died for our country made a sacrifice that deserves respect and appreciation from us all.

And paying respects to fallen service members is not something that really surprises people because this is exactly what we should be doing. But what happened on a Delta Air Lines flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Atlanta on July 18, 2016, was still something extra special.

A uniformed Army private escorting home the remains of an American WWII soldier was on board. The soldier lost his life on the battlefield and was just been identified via DNA analysis. And when the flight landed, the pilot announced that everyone should remain seated so the soldier could deplane first.

Diane Cupp from Johnson City, Tennessee was a passenger on board that plane. She was with her husband, Robert who is a judge that day and they were returning from a 16-day tour of World War II sites in Germany and France. Like the other passengers, she was happy to do what they were instructed to do but something amazing happened that brought a lot of people to tears.

Aside from them, onboard the flight were 60 student singers from the Iowa Ambassadors of Music group. They were returning home from a concert tour in Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. The other passengers during the long flight were already entertained by the choir with two songs. But after learning that they have a special guest on board, they gave one more performance through a song.

The flight attendants approached the choir director and explained about the military remains on board. They asked if the choir would be able to help honor the soldier with a song.

Diane made sure that she got a video of the performance then posted it to Facebook. Cupp is a retired director of a juvenile court.

Luke Johnson, one of the choral directors on the plane said, “We were really honored because … in times of need or times of struggle, people tend to go to music for comfort.”

So while the Army private deplaned, the students started singing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

As the group sang with all their hearts, they made all the passengers tear up. In fact, even the singers got choked up that the emotional moment has brought. This is definitely something special because it is not something that they always experience while on an airplane.

During an interview with TODAY, Cupp said, “It was so emotional. I was just so proud of the young people who started singing and the respect that they showed. My heart just melted.” In an interview with Des Moines Register, she shared, “It melted my heart. I was so proud of them for doing that. It was so heartfelt.”

What made this experience special is that the couple wasn’t supposed to be on the flight. They needed to reschedule and they were glad they did. Cupp said, “I was on that flight for a reason. All the emotions from our trip of visiting concentration camps and a cemetery for American soldiers, I was just overwhelmed when they made the announcement about the soldier and (the choir) started singing.”

This was an impromptu memorial on board a plane but it was definitely special. The video has been viewed millions of times across different platforms since it was uploaded. And since then, it has touched the hearts of many viewers all across the globe.