He has three luxury rail cars.\u00a0\u00a0 Think mahogany paneling, plush seating and white-linen dining areas.\u00a0\u00a0 He also has two locomotives, which he stores at his Juniata Park train yard.\u00a0\u00a0 One car, the elegant Pennsylvania, carried John F. Kennedy to the Army-Navy game in 1961 and ’62.\u00a0\u00a0 Later, it carried his brother Bobby’s body to D.C. for burial.\u00a0\u00a0 “That’s a lot of history for one car,” says Bennett.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He and Vivian wanted to revive a tradition that endured from 1936 to 1975, during which trains carried Army-Navy spectators from around the country directly to the stadium where the annual game is played.\u00a0 The Levins could think of no better passengers to reinstate the ceremonial ride than the wounded men and women recovering at Walter Reed in D.C. and Bethesda, in Maryland.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“We wanted to give them a first-class experience,” says Bennett.\u00a0\u00a0 “Gourmet meals on board, private transportation from the train to the stadium, perfect seats \u2013 real hero treatment.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Through the Army War College Foundation, of which he is a trustee, Bennett met with Walter Reed’s commanding general, who loved the idea.\u00a0\u00a0 But Bennett had some ground rules first, all designed to keep the focus on the troops alone:<\/div>\n
No press on the trip, lest the soldiers’ day of pampering devolve into a media circus.<\/div>\n
No politicians either, because, says Bennett, “I didn’t want some idiot making this<\/div>\n
trip into a campaign photo op” and no Pentagon suits on board, otherwise the<\/div>\n
soldiers would be too busy saluting superiors to relax.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The general agreed to the conditions, and Bennett realized he had a problem on his hands.\u00a0\u00a0 “I had to actually make this thing happen,” he laughs.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Over the next months, he recruited owners of 15 other sumptuous rail cars from around the country into lending their vehicles for the day (these people tend to know each other).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The name of their temporary train?\u00a0\u00a0 The Liberty Limited.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Amtrak volunteered to transport the cars to D.C. \u2013 where they’d be coupled together for the round-trip ride to Philly \u2013 then back to their owners later.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Conrail offered to service the Liberty while it was in Philly.\u00a0\u00a0 And SEPTA drivers would bus the disabled soldiers 200 yards from the train to Lincoln Financial Field, for the game.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A benefactor from the War College ponied up 100 seats to the game \u2013 on the 50-yard line \u2013 and lunch in a hospitality suite.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And corporate donors filled, for free and without asking for publicity, goodie bags for attendees:<\/div>\n
From Woolrich, stadium blankets,<\/div>\n
From Wal-Mart, digital cameras,<\/div>\n
From Nikon, field glasses, and<\/div>\n
From GEAR, down jackets.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There was booty not just for the soldiers, but for their guests, too, since each was allowed to bring a friend or family member.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Marines, though, declined the offer.\u00a0\u00a0 “They voted not to take guests with them, so they could take more Marines,” says Levin, choking up at the memory.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bennett’s an emotional guy, so he was worried about how he’d react to meeting the 88 troops and guests at D.C.’s Union Station, where the trip originated.\u00a0\u00a0 Some GIs were missing limbs.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Others were wheelchair-bound or accompanied by medical personnel for the day.\u00a0\u00a0 “They made it easy to be with them,” he says.\u00a0\u00a0 “They were all smiles on the ride to Philly.\u00a0\u00a0 Not an ounce of self-pity from any of them.\u00a0\u00a0 They’re so full of life and determination.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
At the stadium, the troops reveled in the game, recalls Bennett.\u00a0\u00a0 Not even Army’s lopsided loss to Navy could deflate the group’s rollicking mood.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Afterward, it was back to the train and yet another gourmet meal \u2013 heroes get hungry, says Levin \u2013 before returning to Walter Reed and Bethesda.\u00a0\u00a0 “The day was spectacular,” says Levin.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It was all about these kids.\u00a0\u00a0 It was awesome to be part of it.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The most poignant moment for the Levins was when 11 Marines hugged them goodbye, then sang them the Marine Hymn on the platform at Union Station.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“One of the guys was blind, but he said, ‘I can’t see you, but man, you must be beautiful!’ ” says Bennett.\u00a0\u00a0 “I got a lump so big in my throat, I couldn’t even answer him.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It’s been three weeks, but the Levins and their guests are still feeling the day’s love.\u00a0\u00a0 “My Christmas came early,” says Levin, who is Jewish and who loves the Christmas season.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“I can’t describe the feeling in the air.”\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe it was hope.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As one guest wrote in a thank-you note to Bennett and Vivian, “The fond memories generated last Saturday will sustain us all \u2013 whatever the future may bring.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
God bless the Levins \u2026 and God bless the troops, every single one.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A friend of mine sent me an email that included the following story: Subject: Army Navy football There are still some great people who know why we are a free country, and who ensures we remain so! \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Best … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10813,11893,9011,6013],"class_list":["post-37955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-troops","tag-army-navy-game","tag-train","tag-walter-reed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37956,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37955\/revisions\/37956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}