The Honor Flight luncheon was much as it had been last year, with veterans acknowledging their thankfulness for the event, until one Korean veteran stood at the podium and broke down in sobs of appreciation.
It wasn’t until this moment of sharing by Korean War veteran Charles “Bunky” Froman at Friday’s kick-off luncheon at Bradford Area High School that I, and I would suspect many others present, realized just how much the Honor Flight means to the men and women who served in the military.
For the past several years, the Buffalo Niagara Honor Flight, combined with the efforts of the Bradford Area School District, have taken area veterans from Pennsylvania and New York state to Washington, D.C., free of charge to see war monuments and other sites in the nation’s capital in appreciation for their service.
I had taken my late father to Washington, with the help of my brother, over a decade ago before the Honor Flight program was offered locally. When we saw what the visit to the World War II Memorial meant to Dad, who was an Army veteran of that era, we knew we had done the right thing.
It’s for certain that school district Superintendent Katharine “Katy” Pude and retired teacher Nancy Fire, who organize the Honor Flight in Bradford and are daughters of veterans, also know they’re doing the right thing.
In addition to mustering the help of high school staff and students in setting up the event for the veterans — complete with a decorated campus, a delicious luncheon and a marching band send-off past hundreds of students — Pude and Fire also make sure the rest of the school district and a number of entities in the community are in on the event, or serve as sponsors.
During their parade through town in a chartered bus accompanied by law enforcement, the fire department and a military vehicle, the veterans were taken past students and staff at all the schools in the district. Also set up along the streets for the parade were groups of patriots at Futures Rehabilitation Center, Bradford Ecumenical Home and Chapel Ridge assisted living facility as well as the American Refining Group. Many of the clusters of young and old standing and sitting near curbs were without rain gear, but didn’t move from their spots despite threatening skies and a light rain.
But I digress from the luncheon and Froman’s short, yet emotional testimonial on what all of this means to the veterans from McKean and Warren counties, as well as those from New York state who later participated in this year’s event.
While at Bradford’s luncheon, the vets had an opportunity to talk about their military service. Froman, a veteran from Warren, told the audience that while serving, “Many a night I said, ‘Lord, will I get home or not.
“When I came home, it was miserable, wet weather and nobody met me at the bus,” Froman recalled. “Nobody did much for us then.”
Consequently, he didn’t think there would be much of an Honor Flight ceremony for the veterans.
“It was wonderful what you people have done for us Korean vets and for others who are here today,” he told the crowd before breaking down in sobs. “My friends in Bradford, I want you to know that I’m one vet who came home today.”
A woman sitting across from me at the luncheon, who was part of the Honor Flight organization, instinctively grabbed for one of the napkins on the table and dabbed at her eyes following Froman’s comments, which by the way brought applause.
“We call this Honor Flight allergies,” the woman said in explaining the symptom she and other Honor Flight volunteers deal with regularly.
It’s an “allergy” I’m sure many other patriots experienced at the luncheon as well as during the parade through town and at all points beyond during the trip to Buffalo and Washington this past weekend.
Thank you, Katy and Nancy, for making this happen locally year after year for our vets.
