Previous | Military Home | Next
"Meet Bono"
June 23, 2008: You wouldn't believe me if I told ya, so here is picture proof.
So, no shit, there we were - 252' above mean sea level, on the ground at the Dublin International Airport (not Dublin, Ohio but Dublin, Ireland). It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was out, there was a nice breeze blowing and it wasn't raining! Our mission was fairly routine - pick up a high level Head of State and move him to Berlin for a meeting with some other high level people.
Our guy showed up as scheduled and met us at the airplane. Our passenger has done a lot of work in Africa and is currently working on Middle East peace issues as the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Regional Security. We were ready to depart to get him to Berlin on time but he had a different plan. He told us that his friend Paul was due in any moment and that he would like to say hello. When asked how he knew Paul, he simply commented that they both did a lot of work in Africa and that their interests were intertwined. The last time they spent time together was two months ago in D.C. Satisfied with that answer (more like dumfounded with the whole episode), I told him that my wife would be beside herself if I could get a picture with him. He didn't give a response to that so I sat there waiting figuring that I could covertly snap a few pictures from a distance. A few jets rolled past out location and still we waited.
Finally, a nice Citation XLS rolled up and parked right next to our plane. Our passenger moved out in front of our plane as if to get Paul to notice as he taxied by.
I sat there wondering what would happen next - I mean, were they really as good of friends as he reported to be? My question was quickly answered as he looked at me and motioned me out of the plane: "Hey Gordon, come on, let's go meet him."
"What? Excuse me?" I sat there like I wasn't sure who he was talking to. I looked back at him and he coolly said, "Come on."
I stepped out of the plane and moved in behind our guy as Rodney Pais jumped out of the front seat to join us. We coyly walked over to Paul's plane. I asked our passenger if it would be alright if I took pictures. He suggested that we wait until after we meet him, then we will get to that (pictures). I could barely contain myself. I thought I would just get pictures from afar.
Rodney and I waited about 20' from the opened door as Paul's family began to slowly climb down the steps and into the waiting van. I can't name the kids who came out of the plane but there were 3 of them: A daughter who was an older teen, a son who was probably 10 and a younger son who was 6 or so. They took seats in the van right next to us. His beautiful wife was next to come down the stairs and finally Paul.
Paul immediately noticed our passenger and walked over to greet him with a huge hug. After a few seconds of chatting, our guy turned to us as if to introduce us. Paul, his wife and our passenger walked over. Paul is a lot shorter than I imagined and he actually looked a bit older than I expected but when he reached out to shake my hand and to say hello, it was amazing! My smile was from ear to ear! He shook Rodney's hand as well and said that our passenger was his hero. We were then introduced to his wife Ali and we shook her hand also. She is a beautiful woman with a lovely smile.
We listened as they talked about Africa and some mutual friends (Condi Rice, Tony Blair and other high level diplomats). Paul looked over at us and said, "Shall we take some pictures?"
Are you kidding me? Pictures? Hell yes! I couldn't get my pocket unzipped fast enough. I fumbled for it for a few seconds which reminded me of a horror story when the fleeing victim can't get the car to start because they are so nervous, but finally pulled the camera out.
He moved into position between Rodney and I and his wife stretched her hand out - "I'll take the picture for you."
I passed her the camera as Rodney and I put our arms around Bono for a few pictures!
Yep, that's right - Bono!
It was amazing to see what I would consider one of the worlds most recognized faces! Definitely a day I will never forget.
He asked how long we were in Dublin but sadly it was only for a few more minutes. I am sure they would have brought all of us to his house.
They talked for a while and Rodney and I watched (and took some pictures) from our plane and just happily waited for them to say goodbye. They parted their ways and we prepared for take off. What an amazing day! We thanked our passenger repeatedly - what a nice guy to do that for us. Wow. Speechless. Not much else to say.