We’ve moved! After 8 wonderful years at 2233 N. Bank Drive, we’re grateful for the time we spent in that space. Thank you to National Church Residence and LeadingAge for your support! If you need our new physical address, please give us a call at 614-284-4987. Our mailing address remains the same: PO Box 20133, Columbus, OH 43220.
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The HFC SITREP
A reflection by the Director of Outreach with Honor Flight Columbus.
On the eve of every Honor Flight, the minds of our Veterans race with thoughts of service memories and anticipation for the day ahead of them, Volunteers think of the responsibilities they have and the stories they have yet to know, and staff wonder if there was anything left unpacked or logistics unexplored. However, on the eve of Mission 141, I sit with something else on my mind, someone else. I always take time to stop and reflect the night before on the 80 or so Veterans who are about to experience an unexplainable healing at the Vietnam Wall, touch the faces etched into the Korean War Memorial, or stand before the fountains of WWII naming the battles where their fathers served. But this time, another thought runs through my mind.
Tonight, I am haunted by the empty chair.
I had the opportunity to meet one of the Veterans we booked for Mission 141. John, a proud Marine who served during the Vietnam War, was set to take his Honor Flight tomorrow. Tomorrow he was to stand before the thousands of names of men and women just like him— who stepped into service for this country. Instead, there will be an empty seat on the aircraft we will board leaving from the Columbus airport bound for Washington D.C. There will be one less Marine looking up at the 78 foot tall sculpture depicting Marines raising a flag on Mt. Suribachi. And there will be one less Vietnam Veteran for you to say “Welcome Home” to at the return celebration in Columbus.
A couple of weeks ago, John’s wife called our office to tell us he was likely to pass away before his flight. In fact, she informed us he wouldn’t make it through the week. There was something we could do. He deserved to be told “thank you” for his service, even if it would be as he took his last breaths. We drove to the hospital and provided a Hero’s Salute, a moment of honor for a Veteran unwilling or unable to take his or her Honor Flight. John had slipped into a coma and was not able to talk with us. But I have to believe that as we placed the Vietnam War challenge coin in the palm of his warm hand, something in him could hear us…could hear the adoration of his wife and the admiration of his brother and adopted son.
I am reminded tonight of the empty chairs that surround us on every Mission. I think of the untold stories of the men and women who never had the opportunity to take their Honor Flight. I think of the Veterans who think they don’t deserve this experience, the ones who think someone else should go in their place, and the ones who passed away before they could fly with us.
My position as Director of Outreach was established because Honor Flight Columbus recognizes the burden of the un-flown— the Veterans who are waiting to fly or may not even know Honor Flight exists. Tonight, I feel the weight of this responsibility. I sit with the Veterans I know and love today, the ones I have met along the way, but especially the ones I will never know.
I am haunted by the empty chair.
Vietnam Veteran Jack lays tonight surrounded by his family as they hold his hand and wait for him to pass into peace. Jack is a close family friend of mine, the father of one of the greatest influences in my life. This hero raised a strong, wise, and kind woman who went on to raise two boys of her own, who now watches her own son raise his two boys. This hero may not have taken an Honor Flight, but we will provide a Hero’s Salute of a different kind. His wife will receive a special pin as the spouse of a Vietnam Veteran, the challenge coin Jack would have been given at the Vietnam Wall had he chosen to fly, and finally she will be reminded that her husband’s legacy will not only live on in the generations that exist because of him, but in the hearts of every person who experiences freedom because of his sacrifices.
So, tomorrow, Mission 141, I will let the empty chair haunt me. I will use this reflection to capture the stories of the men and women who will be flying with us tomorrow. I will continue to carry the burden of the un-flown, along with my coworkers, and use it to propel Honor Flight Columbus further into our communities. And with your help, we will reach our Veterans with the news of their Honor Flight.
John, Jack, I dedicate my participation in Mission 141 to you. Welcome Home.
A reflection on the impact of photography during the Honor Flight experience.
During their flight day, Veterans are removed from the normal, everyday context of their lives. This creates a unique opportunity for us. Often, along with their routines, friends, and families, Veterans leave behind many of the defenses they have developed over the years since they left the service. They enter their Honor Flight more vulnerable than many of them have been in a long time. Sometimes this vulnerability is present as a Veteran enters Southwest Baggage claim at the airport before 6:00am the morning of their flight—other times it develops through the day during conversations and visits to their memorials.
It is really challenging to try to articulate what it is like to experience this level of vulnerability. For some Veterans, the jokes they tell or shared laughter that comes from deep inside themselves provide a release for a burden they have carried for most of their lives. For others, release comes when they are met by their own reflection in the black granite of the Vietnam Wall as they gently touch an aged finger to the name of a friend who never came home. These small moments that take place, sometimes over mere seconds, change the lives of our heroes.
We know this to be true not because of the reminiscences of staff or volunteers, but from the hearts of our Veterans themselves. After every flight, we receive letters, emails, and phone calls from Veterans who were changed because of a flight day. This includes: enlisted and drafted Veterans who served during a conflict overseas, those who fought for their country fulfilling their role stateside, those who went on their flight knowing how difficult it would be and Veterans who might never have realized their internal service wounds never completely healed. All of them share with us the impact of the intimate moments from their flights.
These moments are at the very core of why we exist: moments of profound humanity that speak to the power of shared experiences and the deep, often unspoken burdens of service. If you have experienced an Honor Flight as a volunteer or as a Veteran, you remember what these moments felt like—feelings that even just for an instant connected you so deeply to another person. But have you tried to express what it felt like to someone else who has not been on an Honor Flight? How do you put such vulnerable and emotional moments into words?
The truth is words are not enough. Language is a powerful tool, but these moments transcend its capabilities. It cannot impress upon the reader what it was like to see a man who saw his buddy become a prisoner of war, find his name on the Vietnam Wall. Language can never explain the feeling of laughing with a new friend. It cannot describe the thoughts of a woman who holds the picture of her youth as she processes her service experiences. Above all else, language can never warm you like the embrace of another as you let go of the guilt, anger, shame, or loneliness you have felt for over 50 years.
Pictures allow our Veterans to relive some of the most meaningful moments of their lives. This is why we prioritize a kind of photography and videography during our flights that is dedicated to empathizing with our Veterans. It is why we insist that our Guardians send physical photographs to our Veterans. For our heroes, the images they hold in their hands are lasting, tangible reminders of the newfound peace they experienced. We also provide resources for Veterans and the community at large to engage with a flight day. This includes access to a gallery of photographs from every mission, partnerships with creatives who generously give their heart and soul to honoring the Veterans of our communities, and sharable social media posts aimed to invite you to join Honor Flight Columbus. It is our hope that through these resources, Veterans and volunteers can remember the change they felt on their flight day when strangers became friends and friends became family.
So, next time someone asks why do you serve with Honor Flight or why did you take your Honor Flight, show them a picture. Let the faces and expressions speak for you. If you are considering taking your own Honor Flight, let the faces and expressions convince you.
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