A little boy is behaving badly on the plane until an old man whispers in his ear. A five-year-old boy’s furious tantrum disrupted the quiet on the crowded airliner as it readied to take off. His furious, humiliated mother attempted everything to calm him down, but the youngster just yelled louder and kicked the seats around him, much to the dismay of the other passengers.

An old man dressed in an Air Force General’s uniform went carefully up the aisle from the back of the jet. He halted the worried mother with a calm, soothing hand gesture and bent down to speak something into the boy’s ear, pointing to the decorations on his chest. Almost immediately, the boy stopped screaming, took his mother’s hand, and softly tightened his seatbelt. The entire plane broke into wild applause.

As the General returned to his seat, an inquisitive and impressed flight attendant approached him. “Excuse me, General,” she said, “but what did you say to that little boy?” The commander grinned and added, “I showed him my pilot’s wings, service stars, and battle ribbons, and I told him they gave me the authority to throw one passenger out of the plane on any flight I choose.”