Respect burns brightly: Wilmington revives Honor Flight for veterans to Washington

When Don Betz arrived in the U.S. after three tours in Vietnam, he didn't receive a warm welcome.

“I landed in Newark and was almost beat up in the terminal,” he said. "That's just the way we were treated with vulgarities and other things when we came home.”

Amid nationwide turmoil, many Vietnam vets weren't given the respect and "hero status" those with military ties receive today.

Honor Flight of the Cape Fear Area wants to change that.

The group will fly 72 veterans -- made up primarily of Vietnam vets -- from Wilmington to Washington D.C. on Saturday on the area's first Honor Flight in more than a decade.

The Honor Flight network is a national organization founded in 2005 when two private pilots started flying World War II veterans to Washington D.C. to see the World War II Memorial.

During the roughly 16-hour trip, the veterans will be paired with guardians who will accompany them as the group visits the World War II, Vietnam and Korean War memorials along with other monuments. The veterans will also visit Arlington Cemetery to watch the changing of the guard ceremony.

Betz, a former Wilmington mayor, said he's looking forward to being together with other veterans from throughout the Wilmington area. At the Vietnam War Memorial, Betz will be looking for the names of one or two soldiers he served with.

“We all know somebody on that wall, and it's 50-plus years for me since then, but you still remember somebody who eventually ended up there,” he said.

Honor Flight Cape Fear Area president and founder Ruth Smith led the return of the nonprofit organization to the Port City after a long absence.

The last Honor Flight departed from Wilmington 12 years ago. After that, the group organizing the flights disbanded because they didn't have enough veterans, said Kevin Parker, who coordinated the guardians and medical team for Saturday's flight.

The original Southeastern North Carolina group was organized by Honor Flight Southeastern North Carolina and included four flights from 2009 to 2011, when it disbanded.

Twelve years ago, Honor Flights were open only to World War II veterans, Parker said, and the program just wasn't getting enough local applications to fill a plane.

“We had an aging demographic,” he said. “We took all we could."

Since then, eligibility has opened up to veterans from the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Saturday's flight will include three World War II veterans, nine who served in Korea with the rest being Vietnam veterans. The veterans hail mainly from New Hanover and Brunswick counties, but there are others from Pender County, one veteran from South Carolina and another from the Outer Banks, according to Smith.

Terry Blackburn served in Vietnam, but his primary reason for traveling to D.C. is to honor his father who served in the navy in World War II. His father was selected to go on an Honor Flight but died before the trip.

On Saturday, Blackburn will bring his father's cap to D.C. along with two of his own. He plans to photograph each of the caps in front of the World War II and Vietnam War memorials as a memento for his brother and grandchildren.

“This is my way of honoring him," Blackburn said.

Initially, the nonprofit planned to take their first group of veterans last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed them. They plan to hold an Honor Flight once a year in the future.

Smith said she hopes the Honor Flight gives veterans -- including those from the Vietnam War -- the respect and honor they deserve.

"I know that our veterans deserve honor, and they're so humble," she said. "They don’t like being the celebrities.”

The Honor Flight will end with a welcome home procession at Wilmington International.

The organization invites community members to welcome the veterans with signs, banners and flags along the sidewalks outside the terminal at Wilmington International and along Airport Boulevard starting around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The flight is expected to land at approximately 8:15 p.m.

Honor Flight of the Cape Fear Area is volunteer-run and the flights are free for veterans. The estimated cost for each flight is $100,000.

To find out more information about the organization and to volunteer or donate go to www.honorflightcfa.org.

Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at 910-343-2096 or edill@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington Honor Flight to take Cape Fear veterans to Washington D.C.