Our 1st Vice Chair’s Honor Flight: After more than a half century, an uplifting welcome home for Art Hill

At first, the invitation was unsettling. Many veterans, especially those who fought in Vietnam, are reticent about openly discussing their years of active military duty. Some Vietnam vets remain bitter that those who opposed the conflict more than a half-century ago vilified the military as symbols of a savage, unwinnable conflict.

So, an opportunity – all these years later – to join around 50 other veterans in the Cape Fear region for a one-day trip to Washington was, for some, greeted with a degree of skepticism.

They needn’t have worried.

The Honor Flight of the Cape Fear Region organized the trip. Its goal is to “honor WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam Era vets” with annual one-day trips to Washington, DC, and visits to several of the city’s fabled monuments. For the veterans, including our own Arthur Hill, it was an exciting, exhausting and fulfilling journey, evoking memories of decades past – but also creating a brief moment of appreciation and unity between veterans and the nation they served.

For the vets and their “guardians,” friends or relatives who came along for friendship or assistance, touring such fabled monuments as the World War II Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was inspiring by itself. But even more uplifting were the greetings veterans received from the public. Some were staged, but many were spontaneous. Tourists and residents alike gathered to cheer the veterans as they passed. Handmade signs expressed thanks to the vets for their service, while glee clubs sang their appreciation. Handshakes, backslaps and sincere words of appreciation were in abundance.

But nothing beat the welcome the veterans received when they returned to Wilmington aboard a chartered flight after their long day in Washington. In a hangar at the ILM airport, a bagpipe band joined several hundred family members, friends and strangers to give an appreciative group of veterans a rousing welcome home. Our 3rd Vice Chair and Navy vet, Mike Rush, was on-hand to surprise Art upon his return.

For some vets, it was the welcome they didn’t get when they returned from war. For all of them, it was an experience they’ll never forget. 

Art, congratulations on your Honor Flight, and we humbly thank you for your service.