Harry DeBruin: A Prayer Made and Answered
marc.zarefsky2023-09-18T21:32:31-05:00Harry DeBruin grew up in a house with a horse stable near Lansing, IL. His family owned 50 horses and they boarded an additional 50 horses.
Jesse Kimp: Cold War Warrior
marc.zarefsky2023-09-18T21:31:43-05:00While political powers battled for supremacy during the Cold War, Airman Jesse Kimp was just trying to keep warm while serving late night guard duty in Alaska Territory.
Joseph Lombardi: Serving and Protecting
marc.zarefsky2023-09-18T21:30:24-05:00Joseph Lombardi was born in Chicago in 1947 and raised in the Cragin neighborhood on the northwest side of the city. His father had served under George Patton in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Roger Dexter: A Fiery Experience
marc.zarefsky2023-09-18T21:29:28-05:00Roger Dexter was born in Melrose Park, Illinois in 1945, the fourth of five children. His father served in the Army in World War II but was never sent overseas, in part because of the large number of children he had.
James Parker: From Celebrant to Celebrated
marc.zarefsky2023-08-22T23:15:52-05:00Longtime 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.
Gloria Kerzner: Wanting to Serve Her Country
marc.zarefsky2023-08-22T23:14:57-05:00It 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 K. Sawyer: Reluctant Yet Proud
marc.zarefsky2023-08-24T09:35:35-05:00James 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.
George Pearson: An Elvis Welcome Home
marc.zarefsky2023-08-22T23:07:54-05:00As 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: Making a Deal
marc.zarefsky2023-08-22T23:13:28-05:00Charles 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.
William ‘Bill Ward: Unrelenting loyalty, initiative, and perseverance
marc.zarefsky2023-08-07T21:29:45-05:00"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.
George Kane: An unexpected military influence
marc.zarefsky2023-08-07T21:26:11-05:00The 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.
Duane Buttell, Jr.: Guy In Back for a Mig-21 Victory
marc.zarefsky2023-07-10T22:13:24-05:00Bastille 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.
James Hoder Jr. and James Hoder Sr.: The Navy is a Family Affair
marc.zarefsky2023-07-10T22:08:21-05:00The 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.
Scott Phillips: Yellow Shirt Aboard the ‘Tico’
marc.zarefsky2023-07-10T22:00:28-05:00“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.
Fred Cagle: A Free Spirit Becomes an Army Careerist
marc.zarefsky2023-07-10T21:57:26-05:00Coming 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.
James “Jim” Davidson: Three Times is Not Always a Charm
marc.zarefsky2023-07-10T21:51:47-05:00On 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.
Donald Strauss: A Vietnam Journey
marc.zarefsky2023-06-20T10:00:53-05:00If 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.
Russell Caforio: A surprising draft
marc.zarefsky2023-06-20T09:57:53-05:00Heading 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 Nylander: From Sailing the Great Lakes to Sailing the Pacific
marc.zarefsky2023-06-12T14:52:02-05:00Kent'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.
Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Holmes: From Wire Reels to High Heels
marc.zarefsky2023-06-12T14:41:36-05:00Nate 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.