Honor Flight Experience

Published 1:30 am Thursday, August 3, 2023

Editor’s Note- Former Forks resident and Forks Forum subscriber Jim Northup shared the following story with me on the phone last week:

“I read the article in the Forks Forum about Bob Hall taking the honor flight and last April my daughter and I also did an Honor Flight. It was a trip of a lifetime and everything we saw was amazing and great but coming back home was extra special.

We had an honor guard as we boarded the plane to head home, it was a Monday evening about 5 p.m. All the veterans and their guardians that accompanied them were so happy. I had seen my daughter talking to two women on the plane and then as we were underway her name was announced over the intercom to come to the back of the plane, where she sang the National Anthem, you could have heard a pin drop and when she was done everyone cheered!

We got into Seattle after 11 p.m. I was in a wheelchair as were many other veterans on the flight…much to our surprise people were lined up all along the way! Military, young, old, veterans they hugged us, shook our hands, they held welcome signs. A sailor pushed my wheelchair, someone else carried our luggage, there was a bagpipe player, and even people dressed in Revolutionary War uniforms. The welcome home was just amazing.

Everything is done by volunteers, Alaska Airlines donated the plane. No tax dollars are used.

On our trip, there were three from WWII and three nurses that served in Vietnam, two of the nurses had not seen each other since they served together. At the end, we also got “mail” from home which was really special, because a soldier always looks forward to mail from home. If you get a chance to go you should go ….it was so worth it!”