While Chicago scorched under a triple-digit heat index, it was a relatively cool and comfortable day in D.C. in the low 80s for our one WWII, seven Korean War, and 101 Vietnam War veterans.
Longtime Honor Flight Chicago volunteer James “Jim” Parker usually wears an orange shirt on flight days, signifying his role in supporting the honored veterans. On flight day this month, Jim will put on a gray shirt, symbolizing he’s one of the veterans being celebrated on HFC flight #110.
It was the uniform that first caught her eye. Not the bell bottoms that the boys wore, but the deep blue, tailored cut of the WAVE uniform that brought Gloria Harnett Kerzner to the Navy recruitment office in 1944.
James Sawyer called himself a reluctant soldier but he said there was never a question in his mind that he wouldn’t report to the induction center when he was drafted in 1970.
As wounded personnel were brought in for treatment, George Pearson placed heavy fire on the enemy to protect the wounded soldiers. With complete disregard for his safety, he constantly exposed himself to keep a base of fire on the enemy, causing them to withdraw after suffering numerous casualties.
Charles Ohrn was born in Chicago and grew up in the suburb of Park Ridge. He was the middle son of three boys and had one sister. His older brother served in the US Army in Germany and his younger brother in the US Navy, based in Iceland.
"Awesome" is how Bill Ward describes his experience on July 12, 2023, when he traveled from Chicago to Washington, D.C., as a respected guest of the Honor Flight Chicago program.
The Reverend George Kane, or rather Fr. George as he prefers to be called, grew up on Chicago’s Northwest side as the second child in a family of four.
On a sultry day in D.C., 111 veterans comprising one WWII, [...]
Bastille Day, July 14, 1966, a day Duane Buttell, Jr. will remember forever! He was flying in the lead F-4 of four fighters tasked to provide MiG cover for three F-105s (“Thuds”) attacking surface to air missile (SAM) sites near Hanoi.
The Navy is a family affair for the Hoders. James Sr. and James Jr. have the distinction of being just the second father/son duo to fly as honored veterans together on an Honor Flight Chicago mission.
“I had the best time of my life. I would do it all over and I wouldn’t change nothin. I got to see the world and I’ve got brothers.” Those are the words of Scott Phillips 50 years after serving aboard the USS Ticonderoga in the early 1970s.
Coming from a multi-generation family of coal miners, Fred was born in Hazard, Kentucky, to Columbus and Lois Jean Cagle. Watching his father going to work in the mines during his younger years, Fred attended school and assisted his mother with chores around the house.
On August 5, 1967, Jim Davidson’s draft notice arrived in the mail. Six months later, he was an Army grunt in Vietnam. Now, some 56 years later, he remembers the details of every firefight he was in and still can’t get his arms around the fact he made it home while many of his brothers in arms didn’t.
HFC108 on Flag Day featured 119 veterans traveling to Washington, D.C., matching the most heroes Honor Flight Chicago has transported on a single flight. Eight Korean War, one Korean and Vietnam War, and 110 Vietnam War veterans comprised that total.
If you admire people with a strong work ethic, you’ll want to help celebrate Donald “Don” Strauss when he joins Honor Flight Chicago’s 108th flight on June 14.
Heading into the physical, Russ did not have much stress as he was currently carrying a 4F from his bad knee and now having a compression fracture vertebrae, there was no way he would be called to serve, or so he thought.
Kent's father was a professor in foreign languages and his mother a librarian. His older brother retired as a Colonel in the Air Force and one of his younger brothers also was an Officer in the US Air Force. Thus, military life was not foreign to Kent.
Nate Holmes grew up in a rough neighborhood on the West side of Chicago with six sisters and one brother. Nate had a step-brother who was serving in the Army in Vietnam and saw news coverage of the war and wondered if he too could fight for his country like his step-brother.
Fred Hoffmeyer was a young Marine when 70 years ago he was exposed to an atomic bomb test in the Nevada Testing Grounds. Despite that, he has lived a long and healthy life.