Eighty-seven veterans from Eastern Iowa traveled to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday to visit the memorials built in their honor. It was the 61st honor flight out of that region since the first one took off in the 1990s, and the planes still fill every time.
Among the veterans was Joe Latham Jr., a Vietnam War pilot who flew 101 missions, many of them night bombing runs over North Vietnam. He was one of the first pilots to shoot down a Soviet-designed MiG fighter jet. Looking back on all of it, his summary was simple: they were just lucky to get out alive. Three men he flew with are listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, including his best friend and former roommate. He also has friends buried at Arlington National Cemetery, where he plans to be laid to rest.
Honor flights exist to connect veterans with these memorials while they’re still here to see them, and this week’s trip shows why that matters. Latham said the memories would bring tears, and then called the experience wonderful. Weeks like this remind us that the cost of service lives on in names, in friendships, and in trips still being made decades later.
Have you ever visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial or another veterans memorial? What did that experience mean to you? Let us know in the comments.
