The Korean War Legacy Foundation website encourages visitors to “imagine being a young soldier thrust into a foreign country thousands of miles away to fight a war.”
While 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.
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.
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.
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.
Growing up in Southern California, Jeffrey Wombold enjoyed the sea, but it didn’t truly consume him until he joined the Navy in 1971.
Two months before Joe Spinazzola graduated high school, his father sat him down and presented three options for 17-year-old Joe’s future. One week later, Joe announced his chosen path.
Since the day he was born, family has been the center of Asencion Vela’s life. This month, the focus turns to him when he will be honored with an Honor Flight Chicago trip to Washington, D.C., in recognition of his service during World War II.
A knack for language helped propel Richard “Rich” Renkas through more than four years of service in the U.S. Air Force and 354 combat missions.
At 17 years old, Larry Shaver enlisted in the Marine Corps and his whole life changed – including his name.
Earl Bushnell, age 96 and his son, Darrell, age 72 are in for an incredible ride. They will be the first father and son duo in Honor Flight Chicago’s history as part of the organization’s 100th flight to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, April 13.
Bob attended the University of Illinois for two semesters in 1961 but came home when it became clear he wasn’t ready for college.
Keith Kolozie was born in Chicago and grew up in the city’s south side, but he found direction in the jungles of Vietnam.
In 1958, one decision changed the course of Ron Michalski’s life and helped the boy from Chicago’s South Side became a man.
Joe Ayres was a student at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College when the United States formally entered World War II. Two years later, he enlisted in the Army and played a role in three critical battles that helped end the war in Europe.
Terry Cable's tour of duty in Vietnam included time aboard the USS Satyr, a vessel equipped to repair the boats that patrolled Vietnam’s rivers and canals.
Growing up, Sylvester Dziedzic didn’t have a family dog. However, when he joined the Army in 1965, he developed a specialty as a Military Police (MP) Sentry Dog Handler and served in that role during the Vietnam War.
The morning he left for the Vietnam War, John Aister’s father drove him to the train station and left him with words of wisdom he never forgot: "Come back home" and "There will be a day when you appreciate water and bread.”
U.S. Navy Vietnam Naperville, IL [...]
U.S. Navy Korean War Wheaton/Arlington Heights, IL [...]