By the age of 18, James Cox had never flown in any type of aircraft. Despite that fact, he wanted to fly helicopters so he enlisted in the Army. He was given that opportunity twice in Vietnam.
The words came slowly, spoken with deep feeling. Major Patricia Knight (USAF retired) tried to reflect on her distinguished 21 years of service in the United States Air Force. Tears welled up in her eyes as she searched for words.
Bruce Engel used his mechanical and problem-solving skills to keep personnel and supplies moving in Vietnam. Getting to and from Southeast Asia wasn’t quite so simple.
When David was just 7 years old, his mother died from complications during child birth. There were eight children in his family and David's father was simply not equipped to take care of 8 children on his own.
Shortly after graduating high school, and having no immediate intentions of going to college, Alan was classified by the selective service as 1-A and upon reaching the age of twenty, Alan received his official “induction letter” to report for military service.
John Cosentino was born into a large, old-school Italian family in Orland Park in 1952. He describes himself as a mediocre student, but there was always a part of him that believed he could achieve bigger things if he had more self-discipline.
The 2025 season – our 17th! – debuted on Wednesday, April 9, with 113 senior war heroes aboard a Southwest 737-800 bound for Washington, D.C. Included in that number were one WWII veteran and 12 Korean War veterans in addition to 100 Vietnam War veterans.
For Jonathan “Jay” Tunney’s eighth birthday, he went to see his favorite performer, Roy Rogers, at Madison Square Garden, which in and of itself wasn’t that unusual for a kid in the early 1940s. What was unusual was that during the show, Roy stopped to point out Jay’s dad in the audience, and the crowd started cheering.
When Ronald “Ron” Parker was drafted into the Army he was assigned to the infantry. He said he loved being an infantryman, even when he served in Vietnam. So much so that when he became an officer with other options available, he asked to be assigned to the infantry.
One of Shelley Morrison's earliest pictures shows a chubby-cheeked infant in overalls sitting on a sofa clutching her father’s white Navy hat with both hands as it sits precariously on her little head. Her father was a Navy lifer. It was the life she wanted for herself.
Airman Bob Rein is onboard a WC-135B weather ship as it skims over the polar ice cap at 5,000 feet. Too fast and high to see polar bears. Collecting air samples from Chinese and Russian nuclear tests is today’s mission.
Larry Nazimek comes from a long line of veterans. His grandfather served in World War I. His father and uncle both served in World War II. His childhood goal was to fly. Even as a small boy in the sandbox, he had his eyes on the planes flying overhead.
Ron Miller was born and raised in East Chicago, IN. While in the third grade, tragedy struck the family when their house caught fire and burned to the ground. Ron’s mother was a single mom with three young children.
Doug Ermel was born December 31, 1948, and narrowly missed being Chicago’s first child of the New Year by a couple of hours. That timing quirk brought his family luck and set the tone years later during his experiences in Vietnam.
We did it! With the completion of a phenomenal HFC119 mission, our 2024 flight season came to a close. Exactly 800 senior war heroes received their long-deserved Day of Honor, Thanks, and Inspiration in our nation’s capital this year.
At just 18, Thomas “Tom” Dilley walked into the draft board in Harvey, Illinois, determined to accelerate his enlistment for the Vietnam War.
Ken "Burgy" Burmeister was 19-years-old when he moved up his draft number in August 1969 to choose service in the Army, following in his father's footsteps.
If variety is the spice of life, then Bob Baron can tell you, his life has been very spicy. Bob describes himself as a “war baby”, born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, the second of four boys.
The small black-and-white photograph has faded with time, but now it means even more to Frank Gillie Jr. He picks it up carefully and holds it reverently in his cupped hands, as he shows it to me.
Like so many young men, Jaime was drafted into the army in 1967. The United States was concerned about the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia.