I'm Going! (Page 2/4)
maryjane JUL 18, 11:32 AM
Thanks! I think it's pretty much going to be a planned/canned tour, going where they say and I don't think there will be much time for individual sightseeing but I do want to make it to the Iwo jima memorial, Arlington, and Vietnam memorial. I have been to the 'traveling wall' with my father in the late 90s in East Texas so I know what to expect, and it was hard even then. I don't think he understood.. To stand in front of that big wall with my personal friends' names on it, I'm not sure I can do alone so I'm glad Jane is going too.. Hard, just thinking about it. So long ago, but I see their faces.

I suppose I should have checked in and edited this. Jane could not go with me.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 09-28-2025).]

Raydar JUL 18, 10:38 PM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:
...
To stand in front of that big wall with my personal friends' names on it, I'm not sure I can do alone so I'm glad Jane is going too.. Hard, just thinking about it. So long ago, but I see their faces.
cliffw JUL 19, 08:35 AM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:
I don't think he understood.. To stand in front of that big wall with my personal friends' names on it, I'm not sure I can do alone so I'm glad Jane is going too.. Hard, just thinking about it. So long ago, but I see their faces.



Don, understandable. Not that I thinks it compares, I would not know, but that sounds much like when I visit a family / friends grave site.

Enjoy the pain. You are paying your brother's respect. Which is something I think they will appreciate. More so the standard "thank you for your service". A hollow phrase.
maryjane SEP 28, 10:55 PM
I returned last Saturday night, after flying out of Austin Tx mid day Friday(19th).
It was indeed, the trip of a lifetime, both in enjoyment and emotionally. It was at times, HARD.
No, it did not cost me a single penny. There really wasn't time or opportunity to spend any $$ except maybe in the Reagan Washington airport while for our return flight plane to arrive at the gate.

Southwest Airlines, sent their best, to Austin Bergstrom to pick us up. there were 62 of us, ALL Vietnam In Country combat veterans, plus a couple dozen or more 'guardians'. They, were to look after us old men (and 1 female).
There's a lot I want to say, but right now, it's 'too soon'. Still trying to digest it all. But here's us leaving Austin, going down the long gate area after we went thru security and the aircraft that Southwest sent to fly us to DC.



(if you don't have facebook, you can just click the X on the popup that says 'see more on Facebook" then turn the volume on and up.)
These are just travelers that happened to be in the gate area waiting for their own flights. I won't lie, tears flowed down my face.

Leaving Austin Tx Friday morning

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 09-28-2025).]

olejoedad SEP 30, 07:43 AM
Thank you for posting that video, MJ.
blackrams SEP 30, 08:49 AM
All I can say is thank you to you and all those who served. We owe those a lot more than a simple thank you.

Rams
cliffw SEP 30, 06:37 PM
TheDigitalAlchemist OCT 01, 03:58 PM
Thanks for the update - I am very glad it was a positive experience for you. Thank you for your service.
Newbfiero OCT 02, 08:46 PM
Very heartfelt to hear about your trip MJ 😔 . So happy you got to have a lifetime journey experience ‘ had to be emotional 🥲 . God bless thx for sharing and your service ..
Rob ..
maryjane OCT 03, 10:26 PM
OK, I'm ready to talk some about this trip to DC, but I warn you, the post(s) going to be long. It was indeed, a short quick trip, but it was packed full of, well everything.

It was a great, quick, but also an exhausting trip, physically, mentally and emotionally and I'm still trying to process a lot of it from end to end. Some may find this overly detailed but I want you all to get an understanding of how this great program works. At the time, I didn't understand it all myself but It's not some thrown together process. A LOT of planning goes into each of these flights around the country and most of it is carried out by some very caring loving individuals...as I learned and you're all going to find out..

I got the call back in July and the lady calling said I was selected to go assuming I wanted to and was able to make it (it had been nearly 3 years since I signed up for it) & told me she was going to be my primary 'guardian' on the trip and asked some questions about my medical and physical condition, whether I needed a wheel chair, or walked with a cane or walker etc.... After she spoke to me a bit, she said to look for some forms in my in box to fill out and signoff on, and then she wanted to talk to my wife, I assumed to make sure I was indeed able to make the trip. I handed wife the phone and they talked a little then wife walked away from me out on the porch and they spoke privately, and my wife of 31 years flat told me afterwards when I asked what they said "It's none of your business old man!" More on that later..........

There was a 'meet n greet' in Austin the weekend before the flight. That's when they gave us some specifics about this particular flight, as well as making sure we all had what we needed. They gave each of us a very nice carry-on bag, 2 ball caps. One was 'Vietnam Veteran', and the other with 100th Honor Flight Austin logo. We also received 2 polo type shirts each, all identical blue with Austin HonorFlight 100th flight logos. Nothing was to be stowed under the plane's belly, everything of ours was to be carry on and all, in those bags. 2 pr pants 2of underclothes, some socks, toiletries, 2 shirts, pajamas, anything else small enough to get thru 72 hours.

Initially, early last month, I was going to make the 1 1/2 hour trip by myself down to Austin in my truck and leave it parked at the airport, but wife absolutely nixed that idea. Since she's 5'2" she has a lot of trouble driving (barely can see over the dash much less over the hood) my slightly lifted F150 so we opted to rent a car & decided to drive down Thursday night, rent a motel near the airport for 2-3 nights. (flight left Friday around noon and returned just after dark Saturday.)


Several weeks ago, wife, that I've often described as the love of a 1000 lifetimes told me she had lost some contacts out of her cell phone and needed mine to get them copied back. I had no idea what it was, but knew, "something's afoot''..

Almost every veteran, regardless of physical condition or age gets a trained person assigned to them to make sure each is well cared for. There were 62 veterans on this trip and a big # of guardians plus some other Honor Flight staff including 2 EMTs. The female guardians of course don't stay in the same hotel room with you but we did each have another veteran as a room mate. There were vets of various physical conditions, most able to get around pretty good.. getting ahead of myself..

Austin Bergstrom airport on a Friday is pretty busy.. it is the capitol of the 2nd most populated state..

We got into Austin late Thursday, settled in about a mile from the terminal and I decided we should go out. It surprised Jane because I don't like to go out to bars since i don't drink anymore, but, 'anything' can happen on any flight, and this was going to be going into Washington Reagan. We played some pool, danced a little and talked a lot. I was not afraid, but I was nervous. We ended up at Denny's around 2 in the morning. Didn't sleep much.

It had been years since I had last flown and wanted to go on this flight so bad and was afraid I would get kicked off because of the 2 electronic gizmos in my back. They are controlled by 2 different cell phones and the implants 'call home' several times per day to the cell phones. The phones, I could turn off or put into airplane mode, but not the implants, they have their own communication circuits via bluetooth. So, before I left home Thursday afternoon, I used the strong magnet that comes with the devices and shut the impulse generators completely down. Took the phones with me, turned off but forgot the magnet. A big mistake. I forgot how much pain I had before the implants.

Friday morning, Jane (my wife) drops me at the departure gate at 5:30 at the group of red shirted HF folks and all us blue shirted, blue hat veterans are filing in. HF has their own little area, a table laid out and they check off each name to our driv license. They already have each of our boarding passes laid out on a table, give us each this little around-your-neck transparent carrier for them, and our name in BIG letters, the emt goes around to each and sees if we need anything and we all pass on down the hall and take seats and starting to get to know each other. Eventually, everyone is checked in, and we file down around the corner to TSA security. The place is huge, completely filled with travelers in long snaking lines sorta like you might see at Disneyland, down one line of ropes, back up another, then down again till ya reach the scanners, but they shot us right around all that. Dropped our identical bags on the conveyor, walked thru the xray and people like me with metal implants they pulled aside and quickly and professionally frisked me and sent us on our way out into the main terminal to form a big line to go down to gate 21 at the other end of the terminal.
That's when it started.

A color guard from Austin Army reserve and Austin Police Dept led us, with bagpipe playing what I immediately recognized as Scotland The Brave. There were thousands of people in the terminal along each gate waiting for their own flights or to meet someone coming in on one. They're all yelling and screaming and clapping and it was something none of us had ever experienced. There wasn't a dry eye among us.. It was wonderful, but it was hard at the same time. Really hard.
It didn't get any quieter until we reached our own gate (21) at the end of the terminal and sat down and waited for our aircraft to come to the gate.

This was a Southwest airlines flight that had done it for Austin Honor Flight dozens of times, but because this was the 100th Austin HF flight and a 100% In country Vietnam Veterans flight, SW Air pulled out all the stops. They had a huge cake and urns of coffee at the boarding gate while we waited and we flew to DC on this aircraft. Freedom1 I posted above.

As we backed away from the gate, ground crews held up signs in support and when we entered the ramp toward the runway, 2 fire trucks did a water arch over the plane. (I was in center seat and couldn't really get good photos.




I slept most of the flight, interrupted only by the USAF veteran sitting by the window trying to point out that we were over the coastline. (he thought it was Atlantic but I knew it was the gulf at that point)

On descent into Reagan, I was very aware that were were on the very same flight path over the Potomac where the airliner/helo collided but didn't really give it much thought.
Short final and just kinda drop down hard right after the first marker, apply brakes and reverse thrust and you begin to wonder if they gonna get it stopped but it was ok. Inside Reagan, it's the same thing as Austin. People whooping and clapping and reaching out and telling us welcome home!! A LOT of people. Some foreigners tho, just stood and looked at us like our hair was on fire..

(I have to finish this later...much more to come.)