Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Honor Flight: Recognizing our War Heroes

(Nat sound of lobby noise)
It’s well before dawn . . . but Mason City’s airport lobby is jammed.
Men and women - some in wheel chairs - many wearing parts of old military uniform, are moving among registration tables . . .
“What town are you from?”
“I’m from West Bend.”
“Dave Kingland. Don’t I have to sign anything?”
“Don’t sign anything. You’ll have another enlistment.”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
“You might get back in!”
They’re getting dog tag identification and boarding passes for a charter flight to Washington D.C.
“There’s your dog tags. Gotta have your dog . . . you don’t go anywhere without your dog tags, ya know.”
“What’s your name sir?”
Iowa Congressman Tom Latham moves through the crowd sampling the veterans’ excitement about their trip . . .
“How many people to you have? What is it, about a hundred?”
“A hundred and sixty total. About hundred Veterans and then we have about sixty guardians. And then we have six nurses and a couple of doctors . . .”
. . . and some 50 wheel chairs and walkers are also on the plane.
In-flight crew announcement . . . “now that we’re underway, one hour and forty-four minutes is your flying time over to Washington’s Dulles . . .”
The World War Two vets are traveling free of charge. Winnebago Veteran’s Affairs Jack Caputo’s committee raised the money . . .
“We were trying to get ninety-three thousand dollars, and we did get that, but that covers four thousand dollars for hats and T-shirts, lanyards, dog tags, special medallions that everybody’s going to get, or already got.”
In-flight crew announcement . . . “I have a gentleman who is going to come up here at this time to explain the format and procedure that you are going to be viewing outside both windows.”
Veterans:
“Look out the windows . . . look out the windows guys!”
As Honor Flight Winnebago lands at Washington’s Dulles airport, the aircraft taxis through a corridor of fire trucks spraying a water salute on the plane.
Crew announcement . . . “Do you guys see that! That water coming down the side?! How wild . . . a salute for our WWII heroes!”
Stepping from stairs onto the tarmac, the greetings are more personalized.
“Thank you. Welcome to Washington Sir! Enjoy your day here today!”
Hugs and kisses are coming from Washington region U-S-O volunteers meeting Honor Flight Winnebago, bringing tears to the Iowans.
“Thank you for your service sir. Let me give you a hug! I hope you enjoy DC.”
Veteran:
“I’m Wayne Miller, Lake Mills, Iowa.”
“What do you think of this?”
“This is terrific. I didn’t think I’d ever get to see this!”
“You’ve got tears in your eyes/”
“The reason I got that is, is I served in the South Pacific and the guys that really should see this, can’t. They were killed in Okinawa and all the islands.”
Sounds of buses starting up. . .
“Let’s get ya on the bus here.”
Three buses whisk the Veterans and their guardians, along with wheelchairs and walkers, into Washington. First stop, the World War II memorial dedicated just five years ago.
Crowd cheers.
“This is our thanks for what all you’ve done. You’ve saved the world and we thank you for that. This is our salute to you guys.”
The Iowa Vets - brilliant red shirts glowing in the noon day sun - are immediately in focus with dozens of tourist cameras . . .
“Back . . . back up guys, so we can get this picture in. Hold it! Yeah, looking good, looking good! [Applause] Very nice, very nice . . . everybody got em’?”
Standing out in the tourist crowd, a man and woman in dark blue business suits.
“There’s Bob Dole right behind you. Dad, Bob is right behind you!”
Former Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole are visiting and photo posing with the Iowa Vets.
“Yeah, get in and let’s get a shot fellas. I just had a picture with a 97-year-old guy.”
Honor-Flight Winnebago moves on to other memorials – Vietnam, Korea, Marine Corps’ Iwo Jima, and with the wheel chaired Vets surrounding the guard post, Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknowns’ Changing of the Guard.
Sounds of Guards . . .
After the ceremony, as his wheelchair is pushed back to a bus, Harvey Barkema of Forest City is contrasting this guard’s formality with his own experiences. He’s now ninety-one years old, all but one of his teeth are gone, but vividly recalls his war-guard duty.
“When we went out on a guard, we were out on guns, not walking around like this. See, we were on the guns 24-hours a day. I was on Saipan Island and went in the invasion force for the second and fourth marines, first day in, and it was rough.”
Barkema’s comment, “It was rough,” is why honor flight coordinator Jack Caputo says most veterans don’t discuss the intensity and horror, but today’s experiences are opening emotions.
“We’ve got WWII veterans that have never smiled on this and have never talked about their experiences in WWII. And they’re talking. They’re talking to their wives and their talking to the kids, and that’s great, because they need to do that. When a veteran dies a library closes. And we need to get them talking to the families because they are history. And their families need to know that history.”
Perhaps its adrenalin, but on the flight back to Iowa . . . nobody’s sleeping. Maybe it’s the surprise mail-call letters from family members and hometown school children.
“Ray Cooper!”
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day comes as the Honor-Flight Winnebago lands in Mason City just before midnight.
Sounds of gun fire and crowd cheers . . .
Standing planeside at attention, American Legion, VFW, and Marine-Corps-League color guards providing a 21-gun salute . . .
More gun fire. . .
And beyond the color guard . . . more than 150-relatives and friends . . .
“Oh my god! That many people?!”
Veterans’ tears flow freely . . .
“What do you think of this?”
“Fantastic [tearful] . . . I shouldn’t be like this right, but it’s fantastic.”
A long-delayed welcome home for the World War Two vets on Honor Flight-Winnebago. Yesterday’s soldiers. Today’s heroes.
Crowd cheers, and welcomes home . . . fade.