HONOR FLIGHTS Always a special trip for veterans
For the past few years, The Post-Journal and Dunkirk OBSERVER have highlighted Honor Flights – an opportunity to give veterans an opportunity to visit the nation’s war memorials in Washington, D.C.
In fact, we ran the latest story in our July 3-4 holiday edition featuring six area veterans who took the trip to our nation’s capital.
For all the times we’ve told this story, though, the thing that never seems to change is the reaction of the veterans we speak with after they return. Often, the veterans speak of seeing monuments they haven’t seen before, of being able to pay tribute to men with whom they served who didn’t return home and, particularly for Vietnam veterans, of the receptions where they are greeted with welcome-home rallies that they didn’t receive when they first returned home from serving their country.
That was no different with the most recent Honor Flight recipients. Steve Johnson, one of the veterans to make the trip, told our Sara Holthouse the reception when the group returned to Buffalo was his favorite part of the trip.
“It was unbelievable,” Johnson said. “It was nothing like what I expected.”
Making these trips happen isn’t easy. It starts at the top with the Honor Flight organization. Over 19 years Honor Flight has transported about 22,500 veterans a year. Locally, families help with logistics and the Fenton History Center’s Vets Finding Vets program under the direction of Barb Cessna. Vets Finding Vets facilitates the application process for local veterans who want to visit the war memorials in Washington, D.C. For more information, email veterans@fentonhistorycenter.org or call 716-664-6256.
We often say veterans deserve our gratitude – and they do. But those who give of their time to provide the Honor Flight experience to veterans also deserve our gratitude for helping provide an experience our veterans deserve.