Marine Corps veteran is kicked off Delta aircraft over 'threatening' T-shirt

A California veteran was booted off a Delta Air Lines flight because her T-shirt that featured a message about veteran suicide rates in the U.S.

Catherine Banks was supposed to fly out of San Francisco on Wednesday, but instead she was forced off the plane by a flight attendant who found her shirt 'threatening.'

The shirt read: 'Do not give in to the war within. End veteran suicide.'

Banks, a Marine Corps veteran, said that the male flight attendant approached her and said: 'Ma'am...you need to get off the plane.'

But it wasn't until she disembarked and stood on the jet bridge that the attendant told her why she was asked to get off the plane.

'He said that shirt you're wearing is threatening,' Banks told NBC .

'I said, "Are you kidding me? I'm a Marine Corps vet. I'm going to see my Marine sister. I'm going to see my Marine sister. I've been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and worked for the Air Force for 15 years. I'm going to visit her."'

But the flight attendant was unmoved by Banks' service record.

'He said, "I don't care about your service, and I don't care about her service. The only way you're going to get back on the plane is if you take it off right now."'

Because she wasn't wearing a bra, Banks had to turn her back to the flight attendant while she put on her sweatshirt.

When the Marine Corps vet was finally let back on the plane, she was not allowed sit in the extra-legroom seat for which she had paid an extra fee.

Instead, she was instructed to sit in the back of the plane.

The flight was delayed, which caused Banks to miss her connecting flight.

Banks called the experience 'humiliating.'

'I feel like they just took my soul away. I'm not a bad person, and that T-shirt. I should be allowed to support myself and veterans.'

According to United Service Organizations, veteran suicides are currently at a record high.

In 2021, research established that '30,177 active duty personnel and veterans who served in the military after 9/11 have died by suicide - compared to the 7,057 killed in combat in those same 20 years,' the U.S.O. states on its website.

The shirt Banks was wearing is sold by the Til Valhalla Project, a group that commemorates soldiers by raising money for families so that they can purchase memorial plaques that honor their loved ones.

They also help struggling veterans pay for therapy sessions.

Banks said that the T-shirt summed up the work she did for other veterans. In 2016, she received media attention for her attempt to raise $150,000 to make the home of a Marine who lost his arms and legs in Afghanistan more accessible.

When asked at the time why she felt the need to help other veterans, she said: 'I just have to.

'I won't feel complete if I don't reach out and see if there is anything I can do.'

A spokesperson for the airline told SFGATE it is eager to speak with the passenger.

'Delta is seeking to make contact with the customer directly to hear more so we can begin to look into what occurred,' they said.

DailyMail.com has contacted Delta Air Lines for comment.