“Unforgettable” and “tearful” were words used by two Crown Point Vietnam War veterans describing their recent Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., where they toured the nation’s war memorials.
Afterward, they returned home to a hero’s welcome of several hundred supporters, a highlight of the trip for both veterans.
Honored for their service were retired native Californian Lt. Mike Miller and Master Sgt. Wayne Thompson from North Carolina, who joined 88 other World War II, Korean and Vietnam war veterans on the Honor Flight.
Their nostalgic, once-in-a-lifetime trip was sponsored by the nonprofit Honor Flight San Diego, one of approximately 130 hubs nationwide, which conducts flights twice annually. HFSD is funded through generous individuals, foundations, associations, business owners and corporations. Each tour costs about $310,000.
Veterans on this most recent Honor Flight also included a 98-year-old WWII veteran, two brothers who served during the Vietnam War, the longest-held enlisted Prisoner of War from the Vietnam War and veterans who earned some of the nation’s highest military awards. Those included Distinguished Flying Cross Medals, Navy and Air Force Crosses, Silver and Bronze medals for actions in combat and Purple Heart medals for injuries sustained during war.
Both Miller and Thompson spoke of their memorable Honor Flight experience and its impact on them.
“I thought, ‘I’ll fool the Army because I know everyone who goes in the Army is going to Vietnam,’ ” said Thompson, who was raised on a tobacco farm in North Carolina and was drafted out of high school.
He added: “So I said, ‘I’ll go down and join the Navy and stay out of Vietnam.’ Well, that didn’t work out, as I ended up a gunner on a river boat for three tours.”
Honor Flight San Diego
The nonprofit is a branch of the nationwide Honor Flight Network, consisting of over 130 independent “hubs” across America.
Recognizing veterans’ contributions and thanking them for their service and sacrifice, the mission is to escort veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials using only donated monies . The top priority for Honor Flight trips is given to the most senior veterans (World War II and Korea) and those with terminal illnesses. In fall 2022, the flight was opened to Vietnam veterans.
The flight is now open to all veterans who served between 1941 and 1975.
Miller joined the Marine Corps as a sophomore in college, and after graduating, got his commission and went to Quantico, Virginia; Camp Pendleton; and then Okinawa, Japan.
“I had four years active duty and eight years commitment,” he said, adding that he got out a month before the Vietnam War began. “I was combat-ready,” he added. “I’d been trained and was ready to go anyplace.” He trained a platoon with mortars that would have had a strong chance of being on the front line in combat.
“I honor all the veterans,” Thompson said. “I don’t care if they spent three years or 30 years in.
“A good part of the trip to me was the focus on those who didn’t make it,” Miller said. “All the monuments that we went to recognized the people who didn’t make it, lost their lives defending this country.”
“It tears your heart out,” Thompson said of the Vietnam War Memorial.
Vietnam War Memorial
The memorial was designed by Maya Lin, a 21-year-old Yale undergraduate who won a national design competition sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. It includes two adjoining walls composed of 72 highly polished black granite panels. Visitors start at ground level, descend below the walls and then ascend back to ground level.
The memorial is symbolic of a “wound that is closed and healing,” exemplifying the Land art movement of the 1960s stressing reconnection with the natural environment.
Dedicated in 1982, the names on the wall are listed in the chronological order of the dates of the casualties. Additional names have been added throughout the years. As of May 2018, the wall had 58,320 names. Directories of the names and their locations are located on nearby podiums at both ends of the memorial.
Recalling their Honor Flight experience, Miller said: “It was nice, the camaraderie.” He said another high point was the “2,000-plus people who turned out” greeting Honor Flight veterans upon their return. Miller, who plays harmonica, has a memorable keepsake: a video of his playing a couple of military tunes memorializing vets.
Thompson agreed the return was perhaps the best part of the trip. “It was landing in San Diego with all those people,” he said. “I don’t think there was a single dry eye among the veterans. It touches your heart that people do care about you.”
“It was people from all walks of life,” Miller said of the airport crowd. Commenting on those viewing the Vietnam War Memorial, Miller added: “It was hard for me to watch the people looking at that memorial having complete emotional breakdowns just looking at that.”
Would Miller and Thompson recommend the Honor Flight to other veterans?
“We will never miss a flight coming back honoring veterans,” Thompson said. “We will be at the airport every time.”
“Everybody had a guardian who was there (in Washington, D.C.). Everybody needed some kind of help (with mobility),” said Miller, adding that he was most impressed by the incredible generosity of the Honor Flight program, which he stressed is “nonprofit — everything is donations.”
