As the North Country Honor Flight gears up to bring veterans to Washington D.C., the group is also anticipating honoring the 1,000th veteran from the region. The flights began in 2013 and Executive Director Barrie Finnegan tells WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley the project has evolved over the years.
At first, you know, you get to know all the veterans and you knew them all by name and where they lived and everything about them. And then, of course, as the numbers started to grow, you kind of lose contact with that. Now we’re to the point having sent over 900 veterans, it's very difficult to track everybody. So, yeah, the transition has been from small to big. Bigger, I should say. But what we're proud of is we actually still give those veterans the individual attention that is not real common in Honor Flights. Most of the hubs are bigger and send large numbers on big planes. And we're smaller, send less veterans at a time and we're capable of doing different things that the bigger numbers aren't capable of. You know, having a dinner the Friday night before is a huge addition. You know, that individual care that we can give is just something special and kind of unique to Honor Flight.
Why do you think the veterans have been so supportive of this, you know, whether they're going on the flight, volunteering or promoting North Country Honor Flight?
I think the biggest thing is, you know, they're seeing that we're showing the thanks and gratitude to our nation's veterans with no agenda. It's just that simple. That's all we do. There's nothing else to it. That's all this is, is a group of volunteers that got together and decided that these veterans need to go down there and see their memorials and that's it. That's all we do. We come back and their lives have changed and our lives have changed because we now know their story. And it's just a never-ending process that we're lucky to be part of.
Well, Barrie Finnegan, it's not just the veterans that have been supporting it, but the community. I mean, every time you do an Honor Flight, I swear every motorcyclist in the North Country comes to escort them. What has maintained the community momentum and support for Honor Flight?
The North Country is a rare place. You know, we've got a huge amount of our population have served in the military. So that alone, you know, most people have either got a relative or a close friend that have served in the military. Most of us have had grandparents that were in in the military and World War II, Korea, Vietnam. There's always a connection there somewhere and that's what gives these people the will to want to come and help and our community engagement is just off the charts. So we're very fortunate and we're very proud.
Well, you've got the first Honor Flight of this year scheduled on Saturday the 17th of May. What will be happening on that day and do the veterans always go to the same place down in DC?
It's a repetitive process. Each veteran is doing this for the first time. Their experience needs to be as special as it was for the flight before them. So as tempting as it is to change things up, that's not what's best for the Honor Flight veterans. We've got a full day planned. The send-off ceremony, all the motorcycles and the police units, they all escort those veterans from the (Champlain Centre) Mall all the way down to the US Oval and that's all in one big parade. And they arrive at the Oval about 6:20 and then the send out ceremony starts at seven o'clock. And then again, the parade over to the airport and huge amounts of people just lining the sides of the road waving. And then the local fire departments all line up on New York Avenue and that huge flag that you drive underneath just takes your breath away. You know, we've done this so many times, and it still, it brings a tear to your eye when you drive underneath that flag.
Barrie, how many veterans are scheduled for the upcoming flight on the 17th?
We are going to send 28. We’ve got 14 veterans on each flight and that leaves room for a flight leader and an EMT.
I know for several years you were saying that we've had fewer and fewer World War II veterans. They're coming up to an age where some of them could even be approaching 100, so you also are transporting Korean and Vietnam War veterans. What's the mix in this upcoming flight?
We've got a Korean vet that's going to go with us and then most of the rest are all Vietnam. I think 98 is the minimum you can possibly be to be a World War II vet and that's if you went in at 17 in 1945 on the end of the war. So it's a rarity. Those Korean guys aren't much behind the World War II guys. There's only five years between the wars, so yeah, they're getting up there also.
Barrie Finnegan, you mentioned that you've flown 900 veterans so far over the years. By the end of your four flights this year, you're anticipating having the 1,000th veteran on the North Country Honor Flight. What does that mean, not only to you, but to the North Country Honor Flight?
It's huge. I mean, that's a milestone that none of us saw coming. As much as it's an important milestone, it's a number. We're just, we're going to send as many veterans as we can and keep creating those happy days for those guys and girls and keep doing what we're doing, because we're awful proud to get to 1,000.
What's your most memorable veteran or Honor Flight?
Oh boy, that's very difficult. Each Honor Flight has got its own personality. You know, for instance, a contingent of South Korean army people came over and presented all our Korean War veterans with the Medal of Freedom. Out of the blue. They just happened to be there at the right time and the Korean army is very appreciative of what we did over there. And I can't imagine how those guys must have felt. So yeah, it's always something different. Last year, one of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier guards got done duty and asked the flight leaders if he could come over and talk to our Honor Flight veterans. He was so enthusiastic about coming to talk to our veterans. And of course, having someone like that who just got done guarding the tomb was pretty impressive to our veterans. So great things happen all the time and it's always different.
The first of four annual North Country Honor Flights this year is Saturday.
