WASHINGTON — A group of local veterans were given the chance to visit war memorials in D.C. as part of a national effort that is gaining momentum in Pittsburgh.
Honor Flight has sent more than 300,000 veterans to see the war memorials. Honor Flight Pittsburgh started sending local veterans in 2016. The first trip had just eight veterans. This October, the group sent two charter buses with 50 veterans and guides.
Channel 11 rode along to capture the veterans’ experience.
The day started early on a Saturday morning. The buses arrived in Washington, D.C. by mid-morning.
The group went from one stop to the next, visiting various war memorials and monuments. They were often greeted with cheers, welcoming them to D.C.
All of the veterans served in the Korean War or Vietnam War. The oldest to make the trip was a 93-year-old Korean War veteran.
It proved to be an emotional day for many of them.
“Made you feel good that they were there,” said David Gladman, an Airforce veteran from Beaver County.
Gladman said many of the younger people he talks to about his service in Vietnam do not seem to know much about it.
“Well, it hurts,” he said. “People ask ‘what was Vietnam?’ ‘Was it a big war?’ Some of them will say ‘oh, it was three days.’ People do not know.”
But on the Honor Flight trip, he said he felt appreciated and spent much of the day beaming ear to ear.
For many of the veterans, they experienced difficult and painful memories as well. Some said past trauma from war times came rushing back at the site of the memorials. Others had a hard time seeing in person the names of tens of thousands of fallen heroes.
Raymond Nist served in the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. He wanted to visit the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial but changed his mind.
“My sister’s husband is on that wall, and sometimes it’s just overwhelming,” he said as his eyes filled with tears. “I went over there. I thought I was going to do it. But I didn’t do it. I couldn’t do it.”
Like so many Vietnam veterans, Nist was forced to grow up fast. He left for war days after his brother-in-law’s funeral, who died in Vietnam. Then he said he lost some of his closest friends over there.
“I’m so fortunate that I came home, and a lot of my friends didn’t,” Nist said. “Nobody at 19 should have to go through that.”
Dozens of volunteers made the trip to help tour the veterans around.
Alex Harrison, a 17-year-old high schooler at Mars and the youngest volunteer on the trip, was paired with 91-year-old Louis Patz.
The two bonded over the course of the day, much of their conversation ignited by Harrison’s passion for the military. His dream is to become a navy seal.
“I’m training him or he’s training me. I don’t know which,” Patz joked.
Harrison said he learned a lot from “Lou.”
“I literally met Lou this morning, but I mean he might as well be my grandfather at this point,” Harrison said with a chuckle and a big grin on his face.
It was Patz’s second time seeing the memorial. The Korean War veteran served for two years, working on vehicles. He’s now a great-grandfather living in Ross Township.
“All of us had the same thing in our minds that we were gonna do what we had to do and then come home,” he said. “I’ll finish this out and then go home. If I don’t go home… what can you do?”
Another volunteer was a former Tomb Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. When the buses stopped to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, several veterans got special insight from Dennis McMahon.
He stood watch over the remains of thousands of soldiers almost forty years ago but said returning to the cemetery brings back all those memories instantly.
“Everything smells the same. It looks the same. It’s just like I’m stepping back into time to 1987 and 1988. That’s the neat part of it,” McMahon said. “Back then it was a lot, because I was young. I didn’t really understand the grasp of everything.”
That’s part of why he enjoys volunteering with Honor Flight and returning to Arlington.
Honor Flight Pittsburgh makes two trips a year to Washington, D.C., once in the fall and once in the spring. Organizers recommend veterans apply as soon as possible to have a chance to go on one of the next trips.
World War II and Korean War veterans are prioritized due to their age.
The organization is always looking for volunteers, especially those with medical backgrounds.
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