I must be one of the luckiest people alive. Recently, every time I board a plane from Washington, D.C., there is an announcement about an “Honor Flight” coming in. As I get to the airport early, I have plenty of time to welcome our veterans to Washington.
Honor Flight Network was started to help World War II Veterans to come to Washington, D.C., to see their Memorial. I was able to witness arrival of flights several years ago, mainly with very elderly World War II people. Now, Honor Flights have been expanded to include veterans from the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was young and opposed the Vietnam War. I did not understand the sacrifice that was made by our veterans then. I did understand the “lottery,” which chose people to be drafted based on their birthdays. Young men were chosen at random via the televised lottery. I did understand that the high-school principal in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, was head of the local draft board and sent former students he did not like to Vietnam. That was not one of America’s best moments, but it has led us to a successful all-volunteer military.
On Saturday, I saw the older men and a few older women getting off the plane from Huntington, West Virginia. They had served in Vietnam, Korea and some in World War II.
Now, with an estimated 640 World War II veterans dying each day, it is crucial that they get to see the Memorial. Veterans fly free, but their helpers, who are volunteers, raise the money for their flights. Just a couple of weeks ago, the 500th Honor Flight took place, and American Airlines donated the plane and the costs of the whole flight. Most flights go into the Washington, D.C., Reagan National Airport, but some of the flights from the West Coast fly into Baltimore-Washington International and Dulles. Now, Honor Flights also focuses on veterans from Vietnam and Korea. The Vietnam vets are not exactly spring chickens, either, and they have had to overcome our nasty legacy of not welcoming them home after the war. We were less than good to them, and that is not something to be proud of. The staff meeting the Honor Flight from Huntington, West Virginia, said to each of them, “Welcome home.”
This Honor Flight will be a one-day event, with a trip to the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Wall. Honor Flights also tries to take the veterans to Iwo Jima or the Air Force Memorial so the veterans can see sites that recognize their sacrifice.
This plane of veterans was met by the Roger Whitworth band, which began by playing “The Star Spangled Banner.” Everyone waiting to welcome the veterans stopped talking, many with hands over their hearts. The Alumni Chapter of William and Mary was there in full force, and over 60 people had registered from the Washington, D.C., chapter to welcome them.
There were two Navy Reservist officers standing at the gate to welcome all the veterans getting off the plane. Lt. Cmdr. Kerem Bilge and Steve Trumbull, who worked in Afghanistan, volunteered to welcome them. They have been doing this for years. They were in full uniform with their ribbons on their chests. Lt. Cmdr. Bilge said every veteran with whom he has spoken “has an amazing story.”
One of the last veterans to get off the plane was a World War II veteran. He had been helped into his wheelchair by the Honor Flight staff. He was a B-17 bomber pilot in World War II.
So far, in 2016, there have been 80 Honor Flights, mostly with more than 100 veterans. They stop during the cold winter and hot summer, but every Saturday in the month of October, there will be more Honor Flights.
As always, being able to welcome these veterans and to see so many young people excited to meet them as they were waving American flags, was a high point of my year. As the last veteran exited, the Honor Flight staff person said over the loudspeaker, “That’s 150 reasons why we are free today.”
As I wrote last week, this is a crazy political season. This week did not disappoint with its lunacy. However, if you want an antidote to campaign nastiness and cynicism, watching the joy of the veterans as they are greeted by ordinary citizens of all ages is the best thing anyone can do right now. It warms the heart and the soul. There is still so much good in American and so much to be proud of.
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