It was the first voyage of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight. Its mission is to take veterans to the nation’s capital to see their war memorials.

That first flight was on May 1, 2010.

Since then, about 2,600 veterans have participated in the Honor Flight. They came from 225 communities in 56 Iowa counties.

“The original goal of the board was to get enough veterans and dollars to have one flight and it just kind of snowballed from there,” said Ron Newsum, the Fort Dodge man who is the chairman of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight board.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Navy Vietnam veteran Joe Wolf, of Creston, greets his grandson Jack Wolf and his son, Tyler Wolf, also of Creston, as they meet him at the Fort Dodge Regional Airport for his return from the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight. The day was also an anniversary for Wolf, “50 years ago to the day I came back home from Vietnam,” he said.

“It’s been a real joy,” he added.

The Honor Flight will take to the skies again this year, with trips scheduled for May 9 and Sept. 19.

And this year, for the first time, veterans who served their country during times of peace in between World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War are eligible to go.

“These peacetime veterans deserve the right to go,” Newsum said. “Some of the peacetime veterans are in their 90s already. It’s well time that we give the same thought to them, too.”

From 2010 to 2013, only World War II veterans were eligible to go on an Honor Flight. Starting in 2013, Korean War veterans were eligible. Then in 2015, eligibility was opened to Vietnam War veterans.

-Messenger photo by Elijah Decious
John Brown poses with the Iowa column at the World War II memorial.

Now, veterans who served between World War II and the Korean War are invited to apply for a seat on a flight. Also, all those who served between the Korean War and the Vietnam War are now eligible.

However, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans will continue to receive top priority.

Each Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight follows the same basic schedule.

The flight leaves Fort Dodge Regional Airport early in the morning and travels to Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. There, the veterans board buses and head into the capital.

In Washington, the buses pick up a police escort, which takes them to the memorials. The group stops at the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, and the U.S. Air Force Memorial.

-Messenger photo by Elijah Decious
Bob Kearney looks at the names on another wall at the Air Force Memorial.

The group also watches the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Then the flight returns to Fort Dodge Regional Airport, where the veterans get a rousing welcome home.