Stranger buys $350 plane ticket for homeward bound soldier

Soldiers flying home.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Thanks to the kindness of a stranger, U.S. Army mechanic Keaton Tilson was able to spend Memorial Day with his family. Tilson was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, when he received last-minute leave before the holiday. He spent two days at a Dallas airport, hoping for a standby flight home to Illinois, when Josh Rainey offered up his seat. When the airline wouldn't allow an exchange, Rainey bought Tilson a $341 ticket instead. "If it wasn't for him," said Tilson from a family lake house, "I wouldn't be here right now."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Christina Colizza

Christina Colizza is chief researcher and writer at The Week magazine.