HEBRON, Ky. – Veterans took off from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Tuesday for the first of four honor flights of 2023.
These flights offer veterans the opportunity to see the memorials in Washington, D.C., and take part in ceremonies that honor their service to their country.
Bagpipes from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department and some special remarks set the tone early Tuesday morning for these veterans, who were all from Greater Cincinnati, northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana.
“This is a pretty awesome day. I’ve waited, I think I’ve been on the list for five years. Looking forward to it,” said Elbert Schumm, who was a nurse in the U.S. Air Force.
Wayne Gallagher, who worked on a tanker in the U.S. Navy, was taking it all it.
“To be with these gentlemen here, it’s an honor. It really is,” Gallagher said. “I can’t tell you what their experience was, but the experience that I had while I was in, to magnify that through each one of us here, it’s tremendous.”
John Gadberry, also a Navy veteran, had similar feelings.
“I feel I’m in fast company. I got a lot of great brothers right here,” he said.
The first Honor Flight Tri-State of the year flew veterans ages 65 and older, who served stateside or overseas, to view the World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Iwo Jima, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the US Air Force Memorial, and other Washington, D.C., sights.
Schumm was excited to reminisce about some old friends.
“I’m hoping to find two or three of my classmates from high school that were killed in Vietnam,” he said.
Prince Edward Johnson, who entered the Air Force in 1967, was hoping the trip could help him reflect on feelings he’d previously been hesitant to revisit.
“I can actually sense that happening as I begin to have conversations with other veterans. There’s a camaraderie among us. And I just know that this is just one of those days that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Johnson said. “For me, it will probably be an outpouring of emotions that I’ve carried for quite some time after my Vietnam experience. I’ve got a couple of friends that are on the wall. And I think for quite some time, I sort of reserved the feeling of just revisiting that. But this is really a good time in my life. And I feel as if it’s going to be well worth it.”
Gallagher also started to reflect, even before getting on the plane.
“This is emotional. Really, just to be here. Because they come from all walks of life. And all creeds. And just to be all together, it’s very important,” Gallagher said.
Gadberry said he felt grateful for both the veterans he’d have the pleasure of going on the trip with, and for those whose names they’d soon be reading.
“I hope that part of me is with those brothers that didn’t come home from Vietnam or World War II and Korea,” he said.
The return flight to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport arrived around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday night. The next honor flight is scheduled for May 23, 2023. Two additional flights in 2023 will be announced at a later date.
