Honor Flight stirs emotions for military veterans
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Retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Frank Senn of Minot said taking part in the Western North Dakota Honor Flight was "quite emotional" for him. Other veterans on the trip echoed similar thoughts. Veterans also described the trip as "awesome" and that it brought closure for them.
The Western North Dakota Honor Flight, a nonprofit organization celebrating America's veterans, took 99 military veterans from across western North Dakota to Washington, D.C., on April 30-May 1 to see the national memorials built in their honor. The trip is at no cost to the veterans.
Senn, who retired in 1993 after 26 years in the Air Force, said they arrived in Washington on a Sunday morning to begin their tour. While there, he said, they visited various military monuments and memorials and stopped at the National Archives to view the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The military monuments and memorials visited included the World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, Air Force Memorial, U.S. Navy Memorial, Military Women's Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. They also viewed the Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.
Senn was accompanied on the trip by his son, Paul Senn of Helena, Montana, a Desert Storm veteran.
Frank Senn said he was glad he was part of the Honor Flight.
"I didn't really care about this kind of stuff until I had my stroke. After I had my stroke my whole attitude and everything else changed. It was necessary for me to go just to see if you could close that chapter," Senn said.
Skip Gjerde, DAV adjutant of Minot, another veteran on the Honor Flight, said the trip "was awesome."
Gjerde served in the U.S. Navy with an arresting and catapult division's flight deck crew in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War.
He said he had been in Washington, D.C., before but not until now had the opportunity to visit the military memorials.
Waide Kritsky of Minot had similar thoughts about the Honor Flight trip.
"It was really awesome," he said, also noting all the people involved in the trip. He said he served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam from Jan. 20, 1966, to Jan. 20, 1967.
Doug Wittiko, a U.S. Army veteran from Lake Metigoshe, said of the trip, "They couldn't have done anything better. It was a great, great trip." Wittiko went to Vietnam to serve in 1966.
Linda Vise, wife of U.S. Army veteran Rick Vise and a DAV Chapter 4 member who was on the Honor Flight, said, "He said it was awesome." She said he told her he felt he had been welcomed home and appreciated for what they did. The couple, who live at Burlington, were married shortly before he went to Vietnam.
Senn, senior vice commander of Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 4, in Minot, said he was most impressed by the welcome home ceremony when the Honor Flight veterans returned to the Bismarck airport.
"For 26 years I have watched the reunions when the troops came back and then deployments. The one that they did in Bismarck was far the best that I've ever seen. That was some homecoming. I didn't have one of those when I came back from Vietnam - I know that."
He said many people from Bismarck, along with a brass band and politicians, turned out for the welcome home event. He said many people were there with "Welcome Home" posters.
"As you were walking down the steps, you get a tear in your eye because this is what should have happened 53 years ago," Senn said.