An Army veteran was at an airport in Louisville, Kentucky, when a group of girls walked by him, pointed at him, and brought more friends to secretly take pictures of him. He didn’t react at the time, but now he asks parents to raise their kids properly and even dares the kids to post the photos.
The upsetting story was shared online by Bobby Henline. As said above, he is an Army vet who is now a comedian, actor, and speaker, and has amassed a whopping 1.3 million followers on TikTok alone. The clip attached above went viral, garnering 1.1 million views, 153,400 likes, and more than 10,800 comments.
According to Bobby, this occurred at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky. At the time, he was waiting to return to Los Angeles, as he had just had a comedy show. However, while he was waiting for his flight, three little girls, approximately 11 to 13 years old, walked past him and were “shocked” to see Bobby.
The Army vet wasn’t surprised, as he had grown accustomed to it. He has scarring on his face and is missing a hand, among other injuries. As per the Wounded Warrior Project, this was caused by an IED on April 7, 2007, when the device exploded under his vehicle while he was on his fourth Iraq deployment. Around 40% of his body was burned, and he was the only soldier who survived the blast.
‘Raise Your Kids Right’
And while he “gets” that people will stare at him, he wasn’t ready for what came next. The girls came back to him with more friends. According to Bobby, they were there to “Make sure they get to see the freak.” Pointing and whispering occurred, and then around five or six of them approached him, stood in front of him, and snuck pictures of him.
“Luckily, it was me because I’m confident in myself. I’ve got to that place where I’m okay with the way I look,” Bobby said. “I’m alright with it. And I get that I’m shocking to some people, and that doesn’t bother me. But when you start doing this crap, raise your kids right, people.”
The man then addressed the children’s parents who were at the Kentucky airport and told them that their kids “need some guidance,” especially because behavior like this could have hurt another person in Bobby’s position. He then prayed for the girls and even dared them to share the photos online.
Kentucky Citizens React
The video sparked multiple responses, mostly from outraged viewers over how the girls treated Bobby. One said, “Parents, teach your kids better.” Another one commented, “People are so mean… I’m so sorry.”
Others, however, chose to shower Bobby with praise and thanked him for his service. One wrote, “You aren’t a FREAK, you are a HERO.” Another one commented, “They should have stopped and thanked you!“
In a follow-up clip, Bobby wished he would have handled things differently. He stayed quiet at the time, but he believes that saying something would have led to a change in perspective and a valuable lesson learned.
