Submitted Photo Western North Dakota Honor Flight took 106 veterans on an honor flight to Washington D.C., where they visited numerous monuments and museums. They are pictured on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building.

Western North Dakota Honor Flight recently took 106 military veterans to Washington D.C. The flight took off from Bismarck on Sunday, April 14, and returned the following evening.

Alongside the veterans were volunteers, medical staff and a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder counselor who traveled with them to visit Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, World War II Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, Marine Corps War Memorial, Navy Memorial, Udvar-Hazy Center and the U.S. Capitol.

“I’ve seen it before, but not like this,” said Darwin “Sam” Kampman, a United States Air Force veteran who served from 1957-78 during the Vietnam War. Kemper was impressed with the knowledgeable tour guides and the great care taken to assist the veterans with anything they needed.

“A long time ago we served out time over in Asia. I was in Thailand during the Vietnam War era. I was there in ’68 and ’69. It was just a great appreciation to us for the time that we did. I signed up for it and I was selected to go and it was just a really good time,” said Rex Sisco, U.S. Air Force veteran.

Sisco said there was a crowd of around 500 and a band to welcome home the veterans, which he said was an important point of closure for some of his fellow veterans.

“I didn’t have the problem that some of the guys did. Some of the guys coming home from Vietnam would get off in San Francisco, California, or New York and they had a poor reception from the people. I had some but not as rough as some of the guys I’ve talked to over the years. They had things thrown at them, spit on them, things like that. I personally didn’t have that much. … To some of these guys this was a reception that they should’ve gotten when they came home before and it didn’t happen for them,” Sisco said.

In addition to the warm welcome home, while leaving the World War II Memorial, the veteran’s four buses were honored with a police escort consisting of lead and trail vehicles and four motorcycle officers.

Congressman Kelly Armstrong arranged for the group to enter the House floor at the U.S. Capitol and spoke with the veterans.

During the evening banquet, the veterans heard a presentation by U.S. Army Col. Michael Binetti, the chief of staff at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Western North Dakota Honor Flight also surprised the veterans with one last mail call on their flight home. Letters, cards and notes from friends and family were collected by the organization and handed out for veterans to read on their way back home.

Senior Master Sgt. (Ret) Dennis Burdolski, president of Western North Dakota Honor Flight, said between the cost of the flight, food, buses, hotels, jackets and shirts, the cost of this flight ended up sitting around $200,000. The organization relies on volunteers, donations and fundraising to make these flights possible.

“Everyone does it because they love to do it,” Burdolski said.

Burdolski said he started working with the organization in November of 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic started. Though travel restrictions were initiated, the organization didn’t slow down and continued to fundraise through the pandemic. Once travel restrictions were lifted, the organization decided to run a flight as soon as possible.

“It’s a way to show them that we care about them. A big thing is it’s the welcome home that the Vietnam guys never got. … When Desert Storm came around in the early ’90s, most of those Vietnam vets – that was their sons – and they decided that wouldn’t happen again.The Vietnam guys really took it to heart that they wouldn’t let it happen to somebody else. Well, then they still never got their welcome, so we give them their welcome home. You can tell it pulls something out of them. They’ve been carrying all this weight on their chest for so long it just pulls it out. We’ve had lots of success stories where people will open up to their families or their friends just to let them know that they’ve been dealing with this for 40 to 45 years and now they can finally do something about it. Maybe we’ll give them peace,” Burdolski said.

Burdolski said even the toughest veterans get tears in their eyes on their way down the escalator during their overdue welcome home.