Honor Flight Columbus is proud to be flying our 10,000th Veteran to Washington D.C. on October 10, 2024. To commemorate this significant milestone, we will be sharing the inspiring stories of 10 Veterans. Each story we share will represent 1,000 of the 10,000 Veterans we have had the honor of flying. Follow along as we honor, share, and celebrate the heroes of our country.
AvaMaria "Gunny" Knight was born on September 6, 1958. From a young age, she thrived on challenges. By 18, after a brief stint in college and a job in a local shop, she found life too ordinary and began exploring new possibilities. Inspired by her favorite cousin, a Vietnam veteran, she decided to enlist in the military. While many of her friends were joining the Army, Knight had been captivated by John Wayne’s movie, The Sands of Iwo Jima, leading her to choose the Marine Corps.
On a Friday in April of 1978, Knight enlisted. The Marine Corp told her that she needed to gain weight. Undeterred, she spent the weekend eating eggs, peanut butter, bananas, and cheese to meet the requirement. When she returned on Monday just a pound short of the required weight, she was instructed to drink a lot of water and “don’t go to the bathroom until you get to Parris Island.”
Knight left that Monday and told no one. Soon after there was a missing person’s bulletin put out on her behalf. The Marines forced her to call home to let her family know she was safe. Knight recalled her brother finding humor in the situation as she was required to address him as “sir” during the call. For Knight, enlisting was about embracing new challenges and forging a different path in life—one that meant leaving the old ways behind.
When she arrived at Boot Camp, Knight remembers having quite a smart mouth. She took a bus there and as soon as it stopped, drill instructors were yelling orders at the new recruits. Knight stayed seated, looking out the window at them. When a drill instructor asked if she was enjoying herself, she boldly replied, “I’m just waiting for you all to finish what you’re doing out there.” Immediately, she was thrown off the bus and realized, “this was real.” She thought to herself, “Dorothy, you aren’t in Kansas anymore.”
After Boot Camp, her training resumed at Parris Island. She attended BPA (Basic Personnel Admin) School. Her first duty station was in Hawaii. She remembers that she “cried like a baby” and did not want to go. The young Knight felt it was too far away from family. In retelling this part of her military service, Knight pointed out the irony of having enlisted in the first place for challenges and a new life, but here she was afraid to be so far from home. Knight called her mother, and she told Knight to go to Hawaii and “do something no one else had done” in their family.
To this day, Knight maintains connections with some of the people she served beside. In fact, her best friend is one of the people she served with in Okinawa. Reflecting on her experiences, she noted that as a female Marine, she always had to prove herself. “I couldn’t just do my job; I had to excel beyond the next person.” Though it was extremely tough at times, she never once considered quitting. “I was 8 months pregnant on a run,” Knight shared about the physically exhaustive training required by the Marine Corps. It was then on that run, that Knight went into labor.
The fact of military life for Knight and many other women is that their male counterparts were not pushed the same way. Knight said once she was in longer and was put into the position to push other women, she did. Now she looks back and sees that perhaps there were moments she could have been softer. However, she wanted the women to succeed and show their strength just as she had been encouraged to do when she first enlisted.
Knight served for 20 years before she retired. Upon reflecting, she wishes she had been able to stay longer but had to make the choice for her family. In 2011 she began working with young Marines to teach them the discipline and leadership which so greatly impacted her.
At her retirement ceremony, her commanding General shared in his speech that “there are people that you are ready for them to go. Then there are people you know you are going to miss.” When he called her name, she remembers the crack in his voice which still touches her to this day. The moment of her retirement at Camp Lejeune hurt her deeply. She said leaving was the hardest thing she ever had to do. After her military service she worked for the Department of Defense but is now fully retired and lives in Hilliard, Ohio.
April 18, 2024, just shy of the 46th anniversary of her enlistment, Knight took her Honor Flight as part of Mission 130. While she had been stationed near the nation’s capital during her time in the military, she said that seeing the memorials with a group of Veterans was unlike anything she had ever done. She talked about seeing the faces of other Veterans as they encountered their memorials as having a huge impact on her. One of the Veterans on her mission was crying when he received the Welcome Home celebration. Knight said the gentleman told her that “if he had received that welcome home when he returned, everything would have been ok.”
This of course, put Knight in mind of her favorite cousin—the same cousin whose influence pushed her to enlist in the first place. She said she never understood why upon his return from Vietnam, the country greeted him with name calling and spitting. The way he was treated by the country he served contributed to his death. Her cousin is memorialized as part of the “In Memory” plaque near the Vietnam Wall which reads:
“In memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice.”
For Knight, the most impactful moment during her Honor Flight occurred at the Vietnam Wall. She assisted a Veteran in finding a name on the wall and said that when he shared the story behind the name and his connection to it, he was so moved by emotion that it moved all of those around him. Knight encourages all servicemen and women to “do whatever they can to get on that Honor Flight.” In seeing all of the other Veterans, Knight was reminded of the vibrancy of the bases she was stationed, a life she fondly remembers.
Knight would tell any 18 year old looking to join the military that “it is probably the best decision you will ever make.” She learned a trade and skill, received two bachelor’s degrees, traveled to places she never would have been able to see, and became the person she is today because of the Marine Corps. She simply describes her experience as “amazing.”
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