Father Loses Family In Jet Crash But Not His Compassion

On December 8, 2008, San Diego, CA resident, Dong Yun Yoon, a South Korean immigrant, ate breakfast with his wife and his two infant daughters, 15 month Grace who has the eyes of her mother and 52 day old Rachel who has the smile of her father.

He gazed into Rachel’s eyes as he held her tiny finger before handing her to his wife, Young M. Yoon. It was a picture perfect moment as he kissed his wife and both his daughters goodbye.

As he drove to work through the new neighborhood in which he and his family had just moved into weeks earlier, he noticed that the cloudless sky was a luminous blue, a kind of rich blue that daydreams are made of.

Two hours later, just before noon, Dong Yun Yoon would become a grieving widower and father making funeral plans for his wife, two daughters and mother-in-law.

It was described by one man as a loud KABOOM. He was speaking of the F/A-18 fighter jet that smashed into the Yoon’s two-story house in San Diego's University City neighborhood, killing his wife, daughters and mother-in-law.

The house immediately became engulfed in billowy smoke and flames, bleeding all the blue from the sky and turning it into a gloomy charcoal black and intoxicating blood orange.

The twin-engine F/A-18D Hornet was on a training flight when it went down from engine failure two miles from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and crashed into the residential neighborhood.

The pilot ejected moments before impact and wound up suspended by his parachute in a tree.

Hundreds of F/A-18 Hornets, built by Boeing Co. were recently inspected by the Navy after discovering "fatigue cracks" on over a dozen of them. 10 of the $57 million jets have already been grounded. These are also the jets that the Blue Angels use in their stunts.

Gathering all of his strength after such a traumatic incident, Dong Yun Yoon gave a news conference. Accompanied by his pastor and other family members and wiping tears with a white handkerchief, he stood in front of the smoking debris where his home once sat.

As his loss slowly sank in, he grappled with moments of silence before he spoke.

"Nobody expected such a horrible thing to happen, especially right here - our house, but I...I believe that my wife and two babies and mother-in-law are in heaven with God. And I know God is taking care of them."

As he tried to convey a calmness, he said,

“I can’t believe they’re not here.”

Just then a jet flew overhead and echoed the tragic scene once more. Though this new widower and grieving father had his own loss to deal with, and his pain was punctuated by bouts of silence, he separated from his own grief to speak about the pilot.

"I heard the pilot is safe. We pray for him not to suffer from this accident. I don't blame him. I don't have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could. I know he's one of our treasures for our country."

This was a real example of compassion in action. To take one’s own pain and move it to the side to feel for another. It was one of the most beautiful displays of humanity and selflessness that I have ever seen.

For a man to rise above his own agony and still be able to give love to his fellow man is definitely a man who knows God. For all of the pain and suffering we endure, we are building our compassion to make others comfortable in their pain and we can take comfort in knowing that.