FLINT, Mich. (WNEM) – Flint Bishop International Airport welcomed a large group of mid-Michigan veterans home from a once-in-a-lifetime trip with family and friends.
Across Michigan, our military veterans are invited every year on an Honor Flight.
It takes them on an all-expenses paid trip to our nation’s capital, showing them the museums and war memorials dedicated in their honor and those who never got to return home.
TV5 joined the 22nd mid-Michigan honor flight on June 17, meeting many Korean and Vietnam war veterans who bravely fought for our country and our freedom.
“There’s no words for it. It’s just a deep-down gratification, I guess. I’ve never met any of these guys, but yet, it’s like I knew them for years,” said Tom Updike, Korean War Veteran from the U.S. Navy.
For some, it was their first time visiting Washington, but for most, it was their last.
“Everything is just amazing. I had no idea what to expect,” said Jim Langley, Korean War Veteran from the U.S. Air Force.
Veterans shared stories, shed tears, and forged new friendships.
“Well, we’re still a couple of kids yet!” said Updike.
“Day one, I met him and that had to have just been a coincidence… Yeah,” said Langley.
“Being around all the veterans from the same era and everything, it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Updike.
Getting to the capitol took courage from every single one of them.
Courage to embark on one final mission to Washington while fighting through post-traumatic stress and opening up about the war-time horrors they endured and the way they were treated coming home.
“I have never heard ‘thank you’ so many times. When you’re 17-years-old, you don’t think about going in for thanks and the people that are standing there waving at you, ‘thank you for your service, thank you for your service.’ I wasn’t looking for thanks and that amazed me,” said Langley.
“I’m thankful to see so many young people, teenagers, pre-teenagers, coming over, wanting to shake your hand. That gives me faith,” said Updike.
“When I got back from Vietnam, the welcome back was not the same as the welcome from World War II. You weren’t heroes, you more or less were outcasts,” said Detroit-native Norman Folson, a Korean & Vietnam war veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force.
There were 77 veterans total on the trip. 13 served in the Korean War and 64 in Vietnam .
“The fact that I’m coming here and this is in honor of somebody I actually knew, rather than just a monument. A monument that’s really got a human behind it,” said Folson.
Folson served in the Air Force for 23 years, joining right after the Korean War.
While in Vietnam, his job was to fly fallen service members home.
A proud member of the Detroit chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, he said he is even more proud to be going on his first honor flight in his nineties.
“I really feel honored,” said Folson. “It gives me a chance to meet a lot of veterans from the state of Michigan and it gives me a chance to come to Washington and see a lot of the history, a lot of military history, that I wouldn’t ordinarily get a chance to see.”
Trips like these come once-in-a-lifetime and they’re all about comradery.
“I feel honored that I’m here, actually honoring the people that gave up their lives,” said Ray Orlando, a Vietnam War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy. “That’s about all I can say, something I’ll take with me to my grave.”
“Yeah, and at our age, you know, the memories are forever,” said Roy Perini, Vietnam War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy.
Orlando and Perini have a friendship going on sixty years. They met while serving together during Vietnam.
“We met in the bar (laughs). That’s about it. Yeah, it was one night in what, November, I think it was, we met and then we got assigned together on the same duty station. We knew we were going to Vietnam at that point,” said Orlando.
Little did they know at the time, they’d go through something that would bond them for life. An experience many of us will never fully understand, but always be thankful for.
“It was hard work; we also had some fun. The worst thing was the disaster that happened in July 67’. We’ll never forget that, but the wall is just awesome. It brings tears to your eyes,” said Perini.
From Arlington National Cemetery to the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, veterans searched for the names of the family and friends they’d lost, finally getting the closure they needed.
“It’s been healing. I can talk about my experience now without crying,” said Arturo Deleon Gonzalez, a Vietnam War Veteran who served with the U.S. Marines.
“This is my friend Roger (laughs). No, this is my friend Raul Flores,” said Deleon Gonzalez. “We got to Vietnam in April of 66′ and they transferred him from my company, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, to a different company and a week later he was dead.”
Veterans also got to view the tomb of the unknown soldier, and the changing of the guard.
“When you look at all those names… If they would have lived, what would they have done for our country throughout their lives?” said Updike.
Upon arriving back in Flint on June 18, veterans were greeted with one last surprise. A homecoming bigger than they’d ever received, and one final mail call.
Veterans were given envelopes filled with letters from family and strangers, full of messages thanking them for their sacrifice.
RELATED: Project Hero Hugs: Local woman’s mission to show love to vets, military families
The mid-Michigan honor flight runs entirely on volunteers and donations to make these trips possible.
If you would like to learn more or are interested in becoming a guardian for a veteran, click here.
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