Richard Dahl. (Photo provided)
This Honor Flight was one of the most emotional events in my life. It was well-organized from beginning to end. All the volunteers were top notch. They took time off work to make sure we had a great flight. I did have a great flight due to these heroes. I do appreciate and thank them all.
My day started at l a.m. I left for the midway airport at 2 a.m. arriving at 3:30 a.m. The volunteers were waiting with wheelchairs for all veterans. They took us to the lower level of the airport. There, I met an unbelievable sight. We all were assigned to a bus color that would follow us through all ground transportation to all events; of which there were many. We were given t-shirts and ID cards attached to a lanyard. We had our pictures taken; to be added, later, to a book for each veteran. The pictures are already online. Then we all were wheeled to the starting gate.
At the gate, we were given donuts and coffee as we watched the singing three Andrew sisters in the period uniforms for WWII. Then branching off to the Korean era music, the McGuire sisters. This great performance set the mood for the era we were from. Then, we boarded the airplane for sandwiches and drinks.
Then, a lot of us took a nap.
When we landed at Dulles Airport, we were looking forward to a calm bus ride to the war memorials. That did not happen. We approached the terminal with a water cannon salute. The airport police and firemen were standing at attention saluting our airplane. Getting off the airplane seemed to be like a normal arrival. It was not! We were wheeled into the terminal we were shocked! There were about 3,000 people waiting to shake our hands; music, cameras, civilians, local police, state
patrol, performers, kids, adults, active military, area dignitaries, and many more people. I must admit, I shed tears. After 60 years, we were all being honored.
Instead of 15 minutes to get to the bus it took over an hour as we moved through
The crowd of greeters, the hand shaking, and the hugs. What an experience!
Korean War Ambassador for Peace Medal. (Photo provided)
Once on the bus, we traveled to Washington DC with police escort. The police escort led us to the various memorials and back to Dulles Airport. The civilians looked at this escort as if to ask, what dignitaries warrant this treatment? It was impressive to say the least.
At the WWII memorial, we were in for another surprise. We were lined up with our backs facing the Lincoln Memorial. Our front faced the Washington Monument and the new African American Museum. In front of us was a gaggle of newspaper people taking our pictures. A lot of this struck us funny so the veterans’
turned their cameras to film those taking pictures of us. Then they announced we should put our cameras away as the honor guard approached us. The honor guard turned and faced us. They presented us with an honor guard salute as the bugle played. All through our trip, we faced so many people taking pictures
of us. When we arrived back at Dulles Airport, we were met by many people. There was music and performers doing dances from the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. They wore the bellbottom pants with the colorful strjpes and broad brim hats. The women wore the long pleated dresses with large flowers on their shoulders. As the performers went on doing their thing, we had drinks and the provided sandwiches prepared by some local group. Then we boarded the airplane to take a quiet nap. How quiet, I am not sure! With 107 people snoring at the same time with varying decibel levels! I pulled through it all with no ear injury!
Halfway through the flight, we were awakened by Mary E. Pettinatoto; the honor flight co founder, CEO; as she says, “janitor” for the event. She loudly announced a familiar phrase known to all veterans: “mail call.”
This was no normal “mail call.” In our mail package were letters from family, the honor team, president Obama, other Illinois officials, all Chicago major sport teams, school children, adults, and pictures of the pin-up girls from back in the day. Included in the package was the Korean War veteran ambassador for peace medal from the Korean government. Compliments of
the honorable Jae-Woong Lee, deputy consul general and the consulate general of the Republic of Korea in Chicago. The honorable Mike Quigley, of Illinois, read all our names into the
congressional record of the 114th Congress, the second session.
One impressive letter was from a Korean man who escaped, with his parents, from war-torn Korea to be raised in America. He thanked us for making that possible. He is now in his fifties and feels proud to be an American. He enjoys the freedom
and all the benefits this country has given him.
We landed at Midway Airport. Arriving at our gate, we experienced a water cannon salute. The airport police and firemen were standing at attention, giving us a salute. Now all we had to do was get off the airplane and quickly meet our loved ones, and get home for sleep. Or did we! We had no baggage, so it should take us about 15 minutes to exit the airport. Or would it take more than 15 minutes? As we entered the terminal, all heck broke loose. Between this point and the exit point, it would take us about one and a half hours. We faced about 3,000 people shouting and greeting us. Active duty military personnel from the Chicago area, wheeled us between two rows of people. There were all sorts of people; military; PCA; police, state police, bagpipe players, music, girl clubs, older women from WWII era who were shaking my hands and congratulating me on coming home alive; their spouses and boyfriends did not. Boy scouts saluting us (the scouts were surprised when I gave them a boy scout salute that I recalled from my boyhood). There were all sorts of clubs and groups. The first person to shake my hand was the Illinois governor. Then other dignitaries from Chicago and surrounding areas. Half way through the crowd I came to a bend in the crowd to meet two neatly, formally-dressed men who took my hand, placed it, gently, in both of their hands and thanked me for being one of the veterans who helped save his country, South Korea. This was the Deputy Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Chicago, the honorable Jae-woong Lee and his assistance. They were responsible for giving us their veteran medal of honor to me and to each of the other Korean veterans on this trip. After 60 years, this was very emotional. To this day, our government did not honor us or treat us this way. I was the only veteran on this trip that served in Vietnam and during the Korean era. Returning from Vietnam was a very bad experience. Thank heaven my wife met me at Oakland terminal in middle of the night with no military fan fair. As I saw the end of the line, I could not see my wife. Suddenly, there she was, just like when I came home from Vietnam. We shed tears and hugged and went home and in a country we love. After two wars, I am glad to see my grandchildren grow up. One of the reasons men and women go to war. Glad to be home.
Website: honorflightchicago.org
