Honor Flight returned to Columbia, S.C. The Honor Flight of South Carolina would take aging veterans to Washing... VIEW ORIGINAL
They were treated as conquering heroes as they stepped onto the concourse.
Just days after the 71st Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, bands played, crowds cheered and American flags waved raucously for World War II and Korean War veterans after the final honor flight arrived back home May 11 to Columbia, South Carolina.
The South Carolina Honor Flight was created by Bill Dukes, South Carolina's Civilian Assistant to the Secretary of the Army, to help veterans go to Washington, D.C. to see the war memorials and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arlington National Cemetery.
"It was memorable, it was wonderful," said Matthew Burkett, a 90-year World War II vet, said with a smile. "Except it rained during the most important thing I really wanted to see, which was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And we got soaking wet, I mean wet. They gave us jackets but it really rained."
The last honor flight left Columbia at 8 a.m. May 11, landed in the nation's capital, and returned home 12 hours later.
The program took care of everything including making sure the veterans and their accompanying loved ones were in the right places at the right times and were fed. "It is a wonderful program," said the veteran of Company B, 128th Army Ordnance Battalion about the ending of the Honor Flight program.
Burkett, who served 20 years, 10 months and 23 days before retiring, was stationed in Nuremburg, Germany during the Nazi war crimes trials.
Burkett's granddaughter Kristy Gwyn, a music teacher in West Columbia, South Carolina, found the Honor Flight to be "amazing."
"Getting to see him see those things for the first time ever was amazing," she said.
Gwyn appreciated the way the Honor Flight helped those veterans. The organization allowed her to see the different memorials and how the veterans from each of the wars reacted to the sights.
The teacher and her grandfather were some of the first to walk the gauntlet of well-wishers welcoming the veterans back to the Midlands.
"Oh my gosh, I felt like I did something amazing -- but it was for him," she said motioning to her grandfather. "It was like wow!"
Gwyn had promised her grandmother she would ensure Burkett went on an honor flight. Sara Burkett was married to Matthew for 69 years until she passed April 6, 2016.
The airport was lined with boy scouts, family members, a Junior ROTC color guard and the lights of hundreds of cameras. They were even greeted by "Major Honey" a pin-up model dressed in period attire.
Janice Jabs, who accompanied her husband and Korean War-era veteran Albert on the flight, was excited about the trip.
"I feel so blessed they asked us," she said smiling broadly as her husband laughed and joked with those around him while posing for many pictures. "They saw his military hat and asked us if we would do this."
Albert Jabs, was stationed in Germany helping to rebuild the war-torn country after World War II.
Due to the dwindling number of World War II and Korean War veterans the honor flight program ended.
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