Honoring Those Who Served

SEELEY LAKE – Jim Cearley served four years in the United States Navy, three years and three months of it at sea. He engaged in no military conflict because, as he categorizes his service time, "it was between the Korean War and the Vietnam war." But serve he did, and that was reason enough to qualify him for an Honor Flight trip to Washington D.C.

Cearley said all he had to do was fill out some paper work, find a guardian to accompany him – his son filled that role – and get to the Helena Regional Airport on June 10 by 7 a.m. Everything else from his airfare to the two-night stay in the Hilton Hotel, meals and the tour bus was arranged for him and already paid for.

"Nothing was charged to me," Cearley said, "Nothing. And it's all privately funded. The military has nothing to do with it. Government has nothing to do with it whatsoever. It's all from private funds."

The organization's website, http://www.honorflight.org, identifies itself as a non-profit organization dedicated to providing veterans with honor and closure. Their mission is "To transport America's Veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit those memorials dedicated to honor the service and sacrifices of themselves and their friends."

The tour busses were deluxe motor coaches equipped with wheelchair lifts. According to Cearley there were six coaches, all full, with approximately 50 wheelchairs on each bus. The tour included the World War II (WWII) Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean, Vietnam, Iowa Jima, Air Force and Navy Memorials and Arlington National Cemetery.

The first stop was the WWII Memorial and Cearley said, "All these kids came out –and adults too – they all came out and shook our hands and thanked us for our service. And they came out at other places too."

One of the things Cearley said he found particularly impressive was the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Arlington Cemetery. Another place he noted was the Vietnam Women's Memorial where he said he found himself particularly moved by the sculpture of a nurse holding a dying soldier in her arms while another nurse looked skyward.

On the bus ride and at meals the veterans had a chance to mingle and exchange stories. Cearley said, "It was a lot of fun. We all visited and talked and yakked. They were all amazed just like I was. Everybody was impressed with how [the Honor Flight personnel] treated us, and everything they did for us. And everybody was impressed with all the kids, and adults too, that came up to us and thanked us and shook our hands. It was really quite touching."

Cearley said the entire experience was so rewarding that he feels every man or woman who has served in the military should take advantage of the opportunity to visit the memorials. The Honor Flight Network schedules two or three trips each year. Cearley said he would be happy to help any interested veterans connect with the organization.

In consideration of the ages and health issues of WWII and Korean War veterans, those groups are given priority, as is any terminally ill veteran who wishes to make the trip. Statistics on the Honor Flight website indicate that 20,886 veterans were flown to visit the memorials in 2015. There are 21,032 veterans on the waiting list. Of those, 20 percent date from the WWII era, 43.5 percent from the Korean War era, 36 percent from the Vietnam era and another half a percent from more recent service.