Last week, readers followed North County veteran Tom Robertson as he embarked on his Honor Flight San Diego journey. In Part II, the adventure continues with the flight east, an emotional Mail Call and the first moments of the veterans’ Tour of Honor.
Part II– The Flight, Arrival and “Tour of Honor” Welcome Dinner
By TR Robertson
The time had finally arrived to board Alaska Airlines Charter Flight #9666 to Washington, D.C, for the 90 WW II, Korean, and Vietnam War Veterans, their guardians, Honor Flight San Diego Staff members and the media attending, including Channel 10 Emmy award winning journalist Dani Miskell and myself. With my guardian, Susan Renteria, helping with a couple of my carry-on items, we moved toward the back area of the plane. Sitting close to us was Jim Johnson, a retired Rear Admiral from the U.S. Navy and a former commander of Naval Medical Center San Diego. Jim retired in 2004 and served as a Congressional House Page at age 15. He had also served as the commander of a United Nations Hospital Fleet in Croatia. The more you talk to and find out more about each veteran, the more fascinating their stories are regardless of whether they were a seaman recruit or a Rear Admiral or a private or a General.
We were to depart San Diego at 8:00 but had a short delay to 9:35 or shortly after, with an initial scheduled arrival time of 4:00 pm ET. We actually landed only a little over an hour later, landing at Baltimore/Washington International Airport at 5:05 pm ET. Back on board the plane, while we were waiting for take-off, an announcement was made that the Honor Flight was to receive a special send-off from John & Tammy from the KSON Country Western Radio Station that included the National Anthem and recognition of the Honor Flight veterans.
Shortly after a lunch of either a turkey or roast beef sandwich with chips, served by the Honor Flight staff along with refreshment service, the vets were told to return to their seats for a special announcement. Holly Shaffner, Honor Flight Vice Chair and Public Relations, announced we were to receive “Mail Call”. Most vets remember receiving a daily Mail Call when letters from home or elsewhere were passed out. Honor Flight staff members went up and down the aisle with large bags filled with plastic zip-lock bags each containing around 100 pieces of mail of some sort. My guardian Susan and I began to go through the mail I had received. Susan Renteria, an Honor Flight Board Member, was my guardian for the trip and helped provide me with a wealth of information about Honor Flight. It was amazing and heartwarming to see and read all of the letters, artwork, thanks, and recognition people from all over the United States had sent in. Most of the mail comes from school children around the United States. Some of the letter forms had been prepared by the instructors and the children then filled out the letters with their thoughts and colorful drawings. Many of the letters in my batch came from a variety of organizations that had their members send in letters, organizations like the Daughters of the American Revolution (various chapters), Soldiers Angels (various cities), Friends of the Troops (different cities), and several from residents of Tierrasanta Village of San Diego. Some are signed, some are not, some have mailing addresses and some have email addresses. One fun letter I received from a lady in San Marcos was filled with funny comic strips like Bizzaro and Beetle Bailey. Many of the vets said they plan on taking the time to respond to those they can, thanking them for their kind words. The Veterans Mail Call is the responsibility of volunteers Donna and Dave Hester as they have to collect and individually bag close to 9,000 letters, twice a year, sorting through all of the mail they receive from schools and various organizations. This does not even count the Personal Mail Call that each veteran gets with letters from home, written by wives, husbands, sons, daughters, other family members and friends. These are passed out a short while after the first Mail Call. We were also told that some schools, as well as writing “Thank You” letters, hold fund raisers, like jog-a-thons, to give to Honor Flight San Diego. The letter reading more than filled the remaining time on the plane before we landed at BWI Airport.
Arriving at BWI Airport, we taxied to our gate and as we arrived were welcomed with one of BWI Airport’s large fire engines spraying us with a shower of water. Stopping, we exited the plane out to local Honor Flight volunteers from the area who applauded our arrival and a Bellringer, Squire Frederick – Town Crier of Annapolis, dressed in colonial costume ringing in our arrival. We gathered as a group and were then led, by the Bellringer, through the airport out to our buses. All along the way people applauded as we walked by, waved, and thanked us for our service. Waiting in front of the buses were members of an Honor Flight Network motorcycle group who would lead us, with their lights on their motorcycles flashing, down the freeway to our hotel, the Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport.
Arriving at our hotel we were told we had enough time to go up to our rooms, drop off our luggage, meet our veteran roommate, and go back down to the “Tour of Honor” Welcome Dinner in the Thurgood Marshall Ballroom. Also staying at the hotel was an Honor Flight group from Southland (Orange County) that had separate ceremonies. My “roomie” for the weekend was Don Bruders, an Army veteran. Don is Jewish and his final duty station, surprisingly, was in Dachau. Going back to the banquet room we discovered the Program Agenda was perfectly timed out, memories of the specifics of times for each event in the armed forces. For example, the Call to dinner was at 6:55 PM, Welcome at 7:00 PM, Presentation of Colors at 7:02 PM, National Anthem 7:07 PM, you get the idea. Basically, be on time. This would be emphasized, regarding the times for breakfast tomorrow, getting on the buses to start the memorial and monument tours, especially with the importance of arriving at Arlington Cemetery, our first stop.
With everyone seated, Holly Shaffner, Vice Chair/Director of Public Relations, welcomed everyone and spoke about the importance of Honor Flight San Diego in supporting veterans from WW II, Korean War and Vietnam War. She next introduced Dave Smith, Founder of Honor Flight San Diego. Dave also welcomed those in attendance and later in the program spoke about the beginnings of the Honor Flight Network by Earl Morse in 2004 and its expansion in 2006 to include commercial airlines for transportation. Dave showed a picture on the screen from 2005 when Earl had used 18 small planes, each holding 2 veterans, to fly to Washington, D.C. He then introduced a member of the Death Valley 210 Ride for Honor Flight; the participants rode over 200 miles in 98-degree weather with 40 knot winds to raise over $51,000 for Honor Flight. He introduced the Defense Intelligence Agency Color Guard for the Presentation of Colors, followed by the singing of the National Anthem, led by guardian Pha Le. Honor Flight Board Secretary Mel Taitano gave an emotional and powerful personal rendition of the poem. “My Name is Old Glory”, by WW II and Korean war veteran Howard Schnauber, prompting a standing ovation. Sue Sabbaugh, Honor Flight Board Member and Flight Director, gave an invocation and dinner was served.
Following dinner, Holly and Dave went over what tomorrow would look like, beginning with emphasizing the importance of being on time as we were scheduled for a specific time to arrive at Arlington Ceremony and to attend the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were reminded to wear our Honor Flight San Diego t-shirts we had received and that breakfast would begin at 6:00 AM, we were actually allowed in earlier. Next was that we should meet in the lobby to line up to board our buses at 6:45 AM. Those using wheelchairs were to be in wheelchairs for departure to the buses and additional wheelchairs would also be loaded. A general reminder about what we would be seeing tomorrow followed along with pointing out there would be a final “Tour of Honor” Departure Dinner Saturday evening back in the Ballroom. A Special Operation Gratitude was given to sponsor One Main Financial, a lone institution founded in 1912 in Baltimore with agencies across the United States, including San Diego County. Vietnam veteran, Pastor LJ Thomas provided a Benediction, and it was off to bed for most of the veterans and guardians, although a few did adjourn to the Acqua Bar for a nightcap or two.
As a Tribute to the 250 Anniversary of the United States, the next Parts to the Honor Flight 2026 story will cover the monuments and memorials the veterans visited; beginning with the Arlington National Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial and the U.S. Navy Memorial.
Come back on June 20th for Part III on as Honor Flight veterans visit Arlington National Cemetery, witness the solemn Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and begin their tour of Washington’s iconic military memorials.
