Flags were waved and there was much hand-shaking. People embraced. Some burst out in cheers.

These were the ways the people welcomed the members of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight. It was a warm welcome to the Washington, D.C., area for the group that rose early Wednesday morning to arrive at the Fort Dodge Regional Airport by 5 a.m. to get checked in and receive their boarding passes.

The flight lifted off around 6:45 a.m.

After the enthusiastic welcome at the airport, three buses were loaded with veterans, Honor Flight staff, a medical team and a host of volunteers who were there to help. Down the freeway to the National Mall, the interior of the buses buzzed with chatter.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Members of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony up close at Arlington National Cemetery.

For Walter Wearmouth, of Des Moines, who served in the Navy from 1968 to 1973, this was his first time visiting D.C. He said it is an opportunity to honor his country.

At the west end of the National Mall, the veterans stopped at the Korean Veterans, Lincoln and Vietnam Veterans memorials.

Luverne Bruening, of Wall Lake, was one of a handful of Korean War vets who made the trip to D.C. He served in South Korea as a firefighter with the Army. He recalled that the two biggest fires they battled were in Seoul on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

He said he wishes that he could go back to South Korea to see how it has changed since his time there.

Bruening at first didn’t think too much about going on an Honor Flight, but attributed his decision to his son, who had served in the Navy,

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Bob Patterson, one of two World War II veterans to make the Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. is greeted Wednesday night upon their return.

He said his son told him, “Dad, you better go. You’re getting older and if you wait any longer you’ll miss your opportunity.”

John Larson, of Webster City, was drafted and served in the Army where he was trained in generator repair. After spending the first year in the Army in El Paso, Texas, he received orders for South Vietnam and spent 11 months there from 1968 to 1969 where he continued his work in generator repair. Looking back over his time there, he said he was struck by the beauty of the country with lots of rivers and trees.

He was sent to Tay Ninh in South Vietnam, where he was working on a base that was basic, but had buildings for sleeping quarters that were just tin huts with screens all away around and sandbags stacked up. The sandbags, he said, were to block the rockets fired from Cambodia that could reach the base. For this reason, he said, the city had the nickname of “Rocket City.”

He said, “When the lights went out I went out and started the generators up. Then the lights went back on. That was my job.”

He was eager to see the nation’s capital, he said.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
David Honkomp, of Paulina, visits the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Wednesday. He served in the Navy in Quang Tri and Da Nang from 1964 to 1968. He said the trip was pretty exciting.

“I’ve never really been to D.C. and it’s gonna be really interesting to see all the monuments and to see the city. I’m really looking forward to it and it’s gonna be amazing. And I want to give a shout out to the people who organize this. It’s really quite something. I appreciate it.”

Andy Kuper and Duane Brincks stopped at the Lincoln Memorial to see the iconic statue of Abraham Lincoln. They remarked that the statue is much larger than they had imagined.

Both served during the Vietnam War, Kuper in the Army with a medical unit as a mechanic working on ambulances. He said the ambulances were just like what people who watched the television show “MASH” saw. His service was in West Germany during the Vietnam War.

Brincks was in the Navy, serving on two aircraft carriers, the USS Ranger and the USS Kitty Hawk, off the coast of Vietnam. Kuper expressed appreciation that the Honor Flight trip is available to veterans in northern Iowa.

Brincks said it “means a lot, especially for the older veterans.”

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Kim Cockrum-Rolfes, of Gowrie, and her son, Andy Cockrum, of Fort Dodge, were presented a flag in honor of her father and his grandfather, Gerald Auten, who had lived in Fort Dodge. Auten was to have made the trip but passed away before he could make the trip. Auten had served in the Army during the Korean War Era and served as an instructor stateside at a post in Arkansas.

Today Roy Miller is the mayor of Moravia, a town of fewer than 650 people in southern Iowa. He spent decades driving a truck after the war and when he retired he took up politics, getting elected mayor of the small town. However, when was a young man, he served in the Army doing long-range reconnaissance patrol — or LRRP — going deep into enemy territory to report what the enemy was doing. He was in Vietnam from July 1968 to July 1969.

Miller became choked up when recounting, “One night I lost my whole team. There were four of us out on patrol. Two were killed and one badly wounded. This happened in Qu?ng Tr?.”

He was able to find their names on the Wall.

“I lost a lot of people, even neighbors of mine who died that are on the Wall,” he said.“It just stays with you. The loss just stays with you.”

He said of the Honor Flight, “It means the world to me to see this and the people that took the time to come up with the Honor Flights. It took a lot of time, courage and work just to get it started and to keep it going and it means a lot to all veterans that go on this. I know it does me.”

-Messenger photo by David Borer
RIGHT: A large contingent of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight view the Changing of the Guard ceremony from the viewing stands.

A short bus tour around downtown Washington, D.C., ended at the World War II Memorial where two members of the Honor Flight, Bob Patterson, of Ida Grove, and Bud Pittman, of Jefferson, were recognized as having served in World War II.

Patterson was a pilot in the Army Air Corps and flew C-46 cargo planes in the Pacific Theater. He said he never encountered any trouble from enemy aircraft, but did mention the terrible weather he encountered. Pittman served in the Navy, mostly as a cook.

Pittman said he will turn 97 in October. Patterson will be 101 later this month.

Next, they went to Arlington National Cemetery for the Changing of the Guard. They were also witness to a wreath-laying ceremony which, while happening occasionally, is not usually done. As the wreath was placed in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Taps was played.

The afternoon was winding down as stops were made at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial where a group photo was taken of the entire Honor Flight ensemble. There, there was a quick stop at the Air Force Memorial.

By then, it had been a long day. It was time to head home.

They arrived back in Fort Dodge shortly after 11:30 p.m.

Before deplaning, an honor guard received two flags that were on the flight in honor of two veterans who passed away ahead of the Honor Flight: Sgt. Gerald Auten, an Army veteran, and Capt. Douglas C. Nelson, who served in both the Navy and the Air Force. The flags were presented to members of their families.

After the flag ceremony, as the veterans departed the aircraft, they were met by the Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Honor Guard, an avenue of flags and a multitude of cheering Americans welcoming their heroes home again.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
The Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight arrived at Dulles International Airport to a warm reception on Wednesday morning.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Korean War veteran Luverne Bruening, of Wall Lake, reflects on his experiences as he looks at one of the statues at the Korean War Veterans Memorial during Wednesday’s Honor Flight. He served in the Army working as a firefighter during his time in Korea.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Veteran John Larson and Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight staff member, Russ Nader, both of Webster City, in front of the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, VA. Naden also served in the Navy and was in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
The Webster County Honor Flight veterans pose for a photo in front of the Marine Corps War Memorial during the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight trip Wednesday.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Back home in Fort Dodge, the Honor Guard delivers one of two flags to the families of two veterans who were slated to go on Wednesday’s Honor Flight but who had passed away earlier this year.