Travelers at RDU honor fallen Goldsboro airman’s return home

Hundreds of travelers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport fell silent as the remains of Air Force Maj. Alexander Davis, a 34-year-old from Goldsboro, returned home. The dignified transfer turned a busy Wake County airport into a public farewell, with some travelers standing as "Amazing Grace" played.

Davis, also known as Alexander "SMO" Davis, was one of eight crew members killed June 15 when a B-52H Stratofortress crashed during a training mission at Edwards Air Force Base in California shortly after takeoff. The North Carolina Patriot Guard Riders escorted his remains from RDU to Goldsboro for burial, and the USO assisted the transfer.

The scene carried a local weight well beyond the terminal. Goldsboro is Davis’s hometown, and RDU served as the point where his military service met the public grief of eastern North Carolina. Airport travelers, veterans and families who paused for the arrival saw the same ritual that military communities across the country recognize: the return of a fallen service member to the place that knew him best.

Rep. Don Davis honored Maj. Davis on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, underscoring how the loss reached beyond Wayne County and into Congress. The tribute tied the Goldsboro airman’s homecoming to a larger conversation about military sacrifice, while the RDU gathering showed how those losses are felt in everyday places where people do not expect to confront war’s cost.

The moment at RDU echoed the broader dignified-transfer tradition that often brings military remains to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before they are returned to family. In February 2024, President Joe Biden witnessed a similar transfer when the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in Jordan came home, a reminder that the arrival of a casket or urn can briefly unite strangers in silence before the journey continues to a hometown funeral.