That our troops deserve to be treated with the utmost respect.

And that their family members deserve the same. After all, they are sacrificing nearly as much as the service members themselves.

That's what made the letter from Rachelle Gentry, a 26-year-old mother of two from Lansing, Mich., so strange. Gentry had written to complain about a recent experience at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

I was expecting her to describe deep confusion at the perplexing lack of a Terminal B. Instead, what was missing was something far more profound: human kindness.

A few weeks ago, Gentry was visiting her husband, Tony, for the weekend.

Tony Gentry, a Marine combat engineer, is normally based in Selfridge, Mich., but currently is wrapping up training at Camp Lejeune before heading out on a seven-month deployment to Africa.

Rachelle Gentry is proud of her hub but also scared for the future.

Although it's tricky with a 4- and 5-year-old back home in Lansing, she has been trying to visit Tony as often as possible before he ships out.

Unfortunately, on a recent weekend visit, Rachelle caught some kind of 24-hour bug. You know, the projectile vomiting kind. It hit her on Saturday afternoon, before a scheduled 6 a.m. flight the next day.

On Saturday night, Tony Gentry called US Airways to explain the circumstances and ask whether Rachelle might possibly take a later flight. He was told she could fly standby.

But when Rachelle arrived at the airport at 10 a.m. Sunday, an agent told her that she could have flown standby only if she'd arrived within three hours of her original flight, not four. When Gentry, still shaky from the flu, complained, the agent gave her a dressing down in front of a packed waiting area.

Even when Thelma Wilkie from RDU's USO office accompanied Gentry to the gate to appeal, the agent scolded.

"She said, 'I can't hold your hand,' " Gentry said.

In the end, Gentry had to purchase a new ticket, for $250. She ended up spending nine hours at the airport waiting for an evening flight.

But Gentry was so humiliated by her treatment she contacted the US Airways customer service center to register a complaint.

"I didn't even care so much about the money," Gentry said. "I wanted someone to recognize this was wrong."

After several calls to the airline, she encountered one human being who apologized for the rude treatment and offered her a coupon for $25 to $100 off on her next US Airways flight, depending on how expensive the flight is.

Whoop de do.

Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for US Airways, said the airline handles these situations on a case-by-case basis.

He is reviewing Gentry's case.

For Gentry and her husband, the whole thing was an unexpected kick in the pants.

"We have always been treated with such appreciation," Tony said.

Added Rachelle: "Especially here, where there are so many military families, it was such a surprise."

It was also out of character. For Southerners, that is. Not the airline.

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