By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Two U.S. Army veterans, who are next door neighbors in Bowling Green, recently spent a day touring sites in Washington, D.C., dedicated to people like them who served their nation.
As Honor Flight attendees, Danny Pool and Tom Bateson, who served in the 1960s, were treated like heroes.
Soon the Flag City Honor Flight program, out of Findlay, will be taking another group of heroes – a first flight for all Vietnam veterans – to the nation’s capital.
While the Nov. 1 flight and tours are all planned, local residents are being asked to help welcome home the Vietnam veterans when they return to the Toledo airport.
“For many of them, it’s the first time they will be welcomed home,” said Susan Ross Wells, who works with Flag City Honor Flight. “When they came home people were swearing at them, spitting at them, calling them names. We want to give them the welcome home they never got.”
Normally family and friends gather at a hangar to greet the veterans when they return from Washington, D.C. But Ross Wells is hoping the Nov. 1 welcome will be even greater.
“We think it should be a community celebration, not just a family celebration,” she said. “We want to fill the airplane hangar with people.”
The welcome home event will be held in the Grand Aire large charter hangar at the Toledo airport. Anyone over age 18 must have a valid photo ID to attend. Children are also welcome.
“It’s a wonderful learning experience for kids,” Ross Wells said.
The Honor Flight attendees will likely arrive at the hangar sometime between 10 and 10:15 p.m.
Both Pool and Bateson suggested that fellow veterans sign up for the flights.
“I’d sure advise them to go ahead and do it while you’re able,” Bateson said. “It’s well worth the time.”
Bateson, 77, had last visited Washington, D.C., on his senior class trip “many moons ago,” when he graduated from Westwood High School in 1963.
Pool, 81, had been there on a vacation more recently, but before the monuments had been erected for Air Force service members, and veterans of World War II and the Korean War.
The most meaningful moment of the day for both men was the visit to Arlington Cemetery.
“The most moving thing was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changing of the guard there,” Pool said. “They’re the real heroes. They gave their all for the country.”
Pool served in the Army from 1960 to 1965, stationed in Germany when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
“We were all put on high alert,” he recalled.
Pool also patrolled along the Czechoslovakian border.
“We were there for the Berlin crisis. That was a tense time as well,” he said.
Bateson served in the Army from 1965 to 1968, also being stationed in Germany for nearly two years.
Both men treasured seeing their nation’s capital with fellow veterans.
“We saw a lot of D.C. in one day,” Pool said. “We saw a lot of history in our country.”
Each of the 85 veterans was accompanied by a guardian, who spent the day with their assigned veteran. Both Pool and Bateson spent portions of the day in wheelchairs – Pool because he had recently broken a couple ribs, and Bateson because while his legs are good, his feet are not.
“They really took excellent care of us,” Pool said.
The day was long, with bus transportation, escorted by law enforcement, leaving for the airport at 4:30 a.m.
When the Honor Flight returned late at night, the veterans were greeted by a military band, bagpipes, and hundreds of people in the hangar welcoming them home.
“When I saw all that, it brought tears to my eyes,” said Pool, whose wife, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were in attendance.
Then all the veterans were treated to the cherished “mail call” – the source of news from home as they served their country.
“Everyone got a letter from someone,” including mail from family, students and strangers, Pool said.
“It was just a great day,” he said.
Ross Wells wants to make sure the Vietnam veterans on the next Honor Flight have the same experience – coming back to a hangar full of people finally welcoming them home.
