Nutter Loc: Fly Over Zone

A vet - Lewis Finch - put this on Facebook today:

If it’s possible, I’m going to try to put into words what this Honor Flight did for me. I don’t know if I can.

6:30 Sunday morning, May the 6th. I turned into the driveway of the Embassy Suites Hotel. I saw Policemen, Motorcycle Riders in their Leathers, Military Members of every Branch of the Service, Women, Children by the hundreds, lining both sides of the road. They were holding and waving f**gs, clapping their hands, cheering as loud as they could. My eyes glassed over, I felt like I had a tennis ball in my throat, fighting back the tears. We parked the car and headed for the entrance. People were reaching to shake my hand, telling me how proud they were of me and all the rest of the 123 Veterans that were there. Everything became a blur as I realized that all this cheering, hand clapping, and out-pouring of gratitude was for us. There must have been a thousand people waiting for us inside the big ballroom. I was finally home.
I came home from Viet Nam 50 years ago in August. I had no idea what to expect. I wasn’t thinking of a ticker tape parade or anything that elaborate. I was thinking, maybe a handshake once in awhile, a “welcome home” maybe a “glad you made it home safe”. I didn’t get that. What I got was “You were in Viet Nam? How many women and kids did you k**l?” What I got was turning on the evening news and having the “Talking Heads” tell me how many Vietnamese we k**led today. Or if a lone k**ler gunned down a bunch of people the first thing they would ask was “Was he a Viet Nam Vet?” You know, because we were all “Crazy.” What I got was ridiculed at the local VFW by a bunch of WWII vets because they “fought in a real war.” I walked into a bar one afternoon and the band had their equipment on stage and it was covered with camouf**ged cloth. The bartender said “That makes me nervous. Some crazy Viet Nam vet might come in here and see that and shoot the place up” Really? People didn’t want to talk about the Viet Nam I knew, they wanted to believe the My Lai Massacre of 1968 and they thought that’s the way we all were. They didn’t like it and they blamed us. We were just a bunch of losers who lost a war for America for the first time. Eventually we got tired of the ridicule and the lack of compassion and we quit talking about it. We pretended it didn’t happen.

As time went on America forgot about the bad things that happened and slowly but surely began to accept us for the people we really were. Compassionate and caring like most every American. It was the small things at first. Getting a 10 percent discount at the Barber shop or the hardware store because I was “Vet”. People saying “Thank you for your service , Sir” if I happened to be wearing my Viet Nam baseball cap in public. It felt good and I walked a little taller. Then the day came when I found out I had been accepted for the Northern Colorado Honor Flight. I wasn’t entirely sure what all was involved but people told me that we would be taken to Washington DC to see all the Memorials and that we would be honored. Looking back, that was like saying you might burn yourself if you touched the Sun!

After a brief Continental breakfast and couple of speeches we were escorted to 4 waiting busses and 123 Veterans and 60 Guardians boarded for the trip to DIA. It’s 56 miles from Loveland to DIA and we were escorted by at least 100 motorcycles, about 40 Police Cars and 2 Helicopters. Every bridge had people standing on it waving f**gs, blowing horns and cheering us on. There were miles of vehicles and people standing on the frontage roads and exits waving excitedly and cheering. When we got to the airport, still more crowds. We landed in Baltimore 4 hours later and the crowds were there to greet us and again, another police escort to the Hilton Hotel. We spent the entire next day visiting all the memorials in Washington DC and being treated like royalty. I’ve never experienced anything like this trip and probably never will again but the Honor Flight of Northern Colorado gave me a gift I will never forget. They gave me back my belief in a generous and loving Country. They showed me that 40 hours of appreciation can overcome 40 years of confrontation. Thank You Honor Flight.


What is the Honor Flight

The World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. was dedicated in 2005, nearly 60 years after war's end. Honor Flight Northern Colorado, a 501(c)3 organization, was founded in early 2008 as part of the National Honor Flight Network. An all volunteer organization, our vision was to give the opportunity to every Northern Colorado World War II veteran to see their newly established memorial. Executing two flights per year with approximately 123 veterans and 60 guardians per flight we began flying in September of 2008.

Over the course of time we have extended our program to include WWII veterans from any location as long as they are able to get to our sendoff point, and they are not slated to go with any other Honor Flight Network hub. Our current program has evolved to include veterans from other conflicts in the following order of priority.
1) Terminally ill Veterans
2) Purple Heart recipients from any conflict (Documentation required)
3) Korean War Veterans
4) Vietnam War Veterans (DD214 required)


Our vision has always been about the veterans who have so unselfishly given their service to this great country! We, and our donors, want to show our appreciation to these heroes by providing this service free of charge to the vets. All funds for the flights are raised through tax deductible donations. Guardians make a tax deductible donation to cover their flight costs.

Honor Flight Northern Colorado wishes to thank all of our faithful supporters who have made this effort possible. Without them over 2500 veterans to date would not have been able to visit their memorials. All donations are respectfully handled and monitored with the oversight of the Community Foundation Serving Greeley and Weld County.

Unfortunally this is the second to last flight of the Honor Flights. This fall will be the last one due to the passing of the founder COL Stan Cass.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Nutter, thank you for sharing this.

As a Viet Nam ('68/'69) USMC Combat Vet, I felt a great sense of p***e and satisfaction after reading of this experience from Mr. Lewis Finch. It was a pleasure to learn of these flights for the WWII Veterans and/or any of the four listed "orders of priority." It was, however, somewhat painful to be reminded of the treatment so many of us endured upon our returns home...even for years afterwards.

Time does often heal old wounds.

'LOSS OF INNOCENCE'

We were children.
Patriotic, brave children.
Innocent of Honor.

All too soon,
We were forced to grow up,
To face danger and bloodshed.
Terrors, real and imagined,
Waited there in the dark.
But, grimly determined,
We stood our ground,
Though the reason got lost
In the fight.

And we were proud!
Then we came home....
Some of us whole and some of us not,
And no one cared.

Al these years we've stumbled along,
Bewildered and lost, remembering,
And lonely...
Scorned, ridiculed and ignored,
For something out of control.

And now we're men...
Hardened and inside ourselves.
But it's not too late,
Won't you try and understand?
We were just children.

PLT Sarge Loc: Alabama

Is there no one willing to step up and continue this show of Patriotism ?

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Sarge: Sadly, it may not yet appear so. Many may be too busy being contentious with partisan political bickering. Patience, though, my friend. It may simply take a while for others to come across this thread.