When four Jerauld County area Vietnam Veterans returned from their final tour on the Midwest Honor Flight earlier this fall, they were amazed at the welcome they received upon returning to South Dakota from Washington DC. It was a stark contrast to what they encountered when they returned home from service during the Vietnam conflict over four decades ago.
“When I came home from Vietnam most people didn’t even know we’d been gone,” said Dave Kogel, an Army veteran who served 11 months in Vietnam in the early 1970s. “I am glad current veterans get a good welcome home, but we sure didn’t.”
Gary Orth, who was drafted into Army service in 1971 said the Honor Flight was a truly unique experience. He shared that they “treated us like kings,” quite unlike the manner in which they were regarded in the 1960s and 70s being a member of the military.
“After I got out, it was only the old boys who had served in previous conflicts that made you feel at home,” Orth reflected. “You couldn’t hide that you were in the service — you had short hair and everyone wore their hair long back then.”
Bernie Maxwell, who joined the Navy in 1964 and spent his tour on an ammunition ship hauling ammo from the Philippines to Vietnam echoed his fellow veterans.
“When we got back, nobody gave a damn. They looked the other way,” Maxwell said. “We just got back into society and dealt with it.”
For Herman Eilers, who joined the Navy in 1969 and served as a commissary cook in Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, the welcome home after the Honor Flight really stood out to him.
“When we returned from Vietnam, it was a regular thing for people to be spouting off at my uniform, even in Sioux Falls back then,” Eilers remembered. “All during the Honor Flight trip, they really honored us so well, it was incredible. It felt good to be welcomed back like that.”
The Midwest Honor Flight is a mission with the goal of honoring and thanking veterans from South Dakota, Southwest Minnesota, Northwest Iowa, and Northeast Nebraska, by bringing them out to Washington D.C. at no cost to them. When in Washington D.C., they are able to tour all the National Monuments as well as the War Memorials.
Top priority is given to World War II, terminally ill veterans from all wars, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans. In order for Midwest Honor Flight to achieve this goal, guardians fly with the veterans on every flight providing assistance and helping veterans have a safe, memorable and rewarding experience. Veterans are flown on a 'First to Apply, First to Fly' policy.
When it comes to describing the Midwest Honor Flight experience, all four veterans responded in the same fashion: they paused, reaching for a word to fully describe the moving adventure.
“Awesome isn’t the word but I can’t think of anything stronger,” said Kogel. “I urge any veteran that is eligible to go.”
Veterans can apply by visiting www. midwesthonorflight.org/ veterans. Once on the website, there are options to apply online, print the application or request that an application is mailed to the veteran.
“It was really, incredibly nice. Right when we were getting on the plane after a full day in DC, they were cheering us on as we boarded the plane. There were so many things that were special,” said Eilers. “Even on the plane flying back, they delivered us handwritten letters. I even got one from my wife and from other people around the state and even different states. We were honored so good.”
All veterans on the Honor Flight kick off the whirlwind experience with a banquet in Sioux Falls where they receive their orders which include waking up at 2:30 a.m., riding a shuttle bus to the airport and boarding a chartered plane to the Nation’s Capitol at 5 a.m.
Upon arriving in DC at approximately 8:30 a.m., the tour began.
“Seeing all the memorials they built over the years, Arlington Cemetery, the Navy Memorial, Coast Guard, Army Memorials — it was so interesting to see all of that in one location. That’s where our country started. I was amazed and in awe looking at all that,” said Maxwell, who had never been to DC previously. “I was really impressed, they went out of their way to do it for us. The people that put this together, I really appreciate what they’ve done. It’s such an undertaking to do what they do. Thinking of the pilots, the airplanes, the shuttles. It was nonstop getting that many people around. It was quite a deal.”
Orth, whose guardian was his son Gerry, said that he couldn’t express his appreciation enough to Honor Flight organizers.
“I kept telling them I didn’t know you would treat us so good. As soon as we came off the plane in DC, people were clapping and cheering. They made so much noise it was unreal,” Orth remembered. “It is a wonderful, wonderful program. I am forever grateful to the Honor Flight.”
After a day of touring DC and flying home to South Dakota, the veterans were driven onto the floor of the Premiere Center in Sioux Falls to be greeted by an enormous, loudly cheering crowd.
The crowd of people that were there was just unbelievable, recalled Kogel. “It was pretty breathtaking — and something that we never got."
