For two decades, Honor Flights have taken veterans to tour war memorials in the nation’s capital. Sunday’s trip — dubbed “Operation Honor” — was the first on military airplanes from a military base.
Sunday was Johnson’s first time on a military plane since 1968, when he returned from service in Vietnam. He was hoping to see the names of a few friends — friends who did not make it home from ‘Nam — on the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
“It’s a touching experience,” Johnson said. “I’m excited, and I have a so-called happy face at the moment. That (smile) is going to turn upside down when I see my friends’ names. I’m happy for this opportunity”
The Englewood resident said Honor Flight volunteers had done an “exceptional” job taking care of him and fellow veterans. He can’t drive at night, so a volunteer picked him up at his home in the pre-dawn darkness and drove him to Wright-Patterson.
Processing of veterans began before 4 a.m. in a hangar of the 445th Airlift Wing. Volunteers, wearing yellow T-shirts, served breakfast, answered questions, set up tables and generally handled an array of tasks in the final two hours before the flights, which have been planned for more than a year.
“As many as we need,” Honor Flight Dayton President Al Bailey said when asked how many volunteers were on hand to assist. Typically, it takes the aid of some 50 to 60 volunteers to make an Honor Flight happen, he said.
Veterans, many of them in wheelchairs, began boarding the C-17s at about 6 a.m.
Sylvester Kerstanski, 93, served in both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. He hadn’t been on a military plane since the mid-1970s.
The Miamisburg resident had relatives serve in World War II, some of whom didn’t come home.
“My family has many veterans,” he said. “We lost one, we don’t know where he went. He was in an airplane, back from a bombing run, and we never heard from him again, a Navy airplane.
“So I hope to see some of their names,” he added.
Richard Stump, 79, had a friend killed in Vietnam by sniper fire. He intended to find his name on the wall in D.C.
“Just hearing a lot of the tales that are going to be told today,” Stump said, when asked what he intended to enjoy Sunday. “I’m sure there’s a lot of reminiscing that’s going to be going on.”
The veterans were scheduled to return to Wright-Patterson at about 8 p.m. Sunday, in time for the final performer of a concert on the 445th campus, Lee Greenwood. Some 13 food trucks are also expected to be on hand.
Having a concert on base open to ticket-holders is also unusual.
“Nobody can seem to remember when Wright-Patt has been open to the general public,” Col. Matthew Muha, deputy commander of the 445th, told the Dayton Daily News last month.
Sunday night’s concert is free and the public was invited, but attendees need tickets — and all of those tickets were accounted for about a month ago.
For those who have tickets, off-base parking is available. Security screening and busing to the base will start at 3 p.m. at the Skyway Shopping Plaza in the 1100 block of Kauffman Avenue in Fairborn, with the concert starting at 5 p.m.
As the last C-17 took off at about 7:10 a.m. Sunday, Capt. Mary Begy, who works in public affairs for the 445th, put down her camera and raised two arms in triumph.
Months of work had paid off.
“It feels great to see everyone on their way,” a smiling Begy said.
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