WASHINGTON, D.C. — Since 2010, Badger Honor Flight (BHF) has sent nearly 5,000 veterans of south-central Wisconsin to the nation’s capital. BHF is one of several organizations around the country that is part of the Honor Flight network. The fourth of sixth BHF trips this year — and 55th overall — took place on Saturday, Sept. 7. The final 2024 trip, set to take place in November, will cross the 5,000-veteran threshold for the all-volunteer organization.
“This is a great experience,” said E5 Phillip Welton, a Monroe man and Vietnam veteran. He served in the Navy from 1971-75. “I love history as it is, but I’ve never had a chance to come over and see any of this. This opportunity, you take it when you can get it.”
Honor Flights are made possibly by a volunteer board fundraising from area businesses and donations. A group of volunteers organize and take the lead on travel day — a day that can last 24 hours or more for the volunteers. The veterans taking the flight begin checking in as early as 5 a.m. at Dane County Regional Airport (MSN) in Madison. They are greeted by a short ceremony and sendoff around 7 a.m.
“You felt it just this morning coming into the airport — you could already feel the respect,” said Spec E5 Karl Hibbs, Army veteran from Janesville.
Mission 55
The 55th Badger Honor Flight group, dubbed Mission 55, flew to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on a private American Airlines jet. They were greeted by a water gun salute from the local fire department with a welcoming crowd waiting at the gate — which included bystanders, pilots, flight crews, airport employees, and some extended family and friends of veterans — there to surprise their heroes.
“I was really impressed with the sendoff and our arrival here in D.C., the people that were here to honor us. I thought that was really good,” said E4 Gary Signer of Gratiot, who traveled with his son, Travis, acting as guardian.
Gary Signer is an Army veteran that served in Vietnam from 1968-69 with the 101st Airborne, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry. He was an infantryman and recon squad member who fought in the Battle of Hamburger Hill (May 10-20, 1969).
“It was one of the major battles of the war — right there in the thick of it,” Signer said.
Mission 55 packed all 90 veterans, their guardians and BHF volunteers onto four buses from Reagan Airport and made their first stop not long after at the U.S. Marines Corps War Memorial next to Arlington National Cemetery and overlooking the Potomac River. The memorial is most prominently known for its large bronze statue depicting one of the most iconic scenes from World War II — when Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, on Feb. 1, 1945, captured U.S. troops raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima.
The veterans of Mission 55 took their group photo in front of the statue and then ate their lunch on the adjacent lawn — a free meal from the local Arby’s. The owner of that Arlington, Va. Arby’s franchise, Ace, keeps a staff of over 100 full-time people employed whose sole job is to package lunch boxes for veterans and volunteers of the various Honor Flights that come into town each week.
The Mission 55 group then traveled a short distance to watch the ceremonial Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall, which also includes the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial, with the Washington Monument looming large in the background.
“This is just fantastic. We went on a class trip at Albany High School in 1959, and that’s the last time I have ever been out here,” said Army PFC Ron Puritan of Monroe, who served from 1964-70 and fought in Vietnam.
Mission 55 also visited the Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Memorial, and the Air Force Memorial that overlooks the Pentagon, Potomac River, Arlington, Va. and downtown Washington D.C.
On the return flight home, the veterans are treated to a boxed meal from Chick-fil-A and Mail Call — where they open letters and thank-you notes from family and friends.
SP5 Stephen Streiff of Monroe served in the Army from 1966-69. While overseas, he wrote letters back to Amy Legler, his niece and goddaughter, who joined him on his Honor Flight as his guardian.
“On the flight out here, she brought out some letters that I wrote to her back in ’66 when I was over in Vietnam. She saved them all these years, and I got to read them on the way here. That was wonderful — I wouldn’t have thought she would have kept them that long,” Streiff said.
His life back stateside has been a happy one, he said. He and his wife, Sharon, served as Cheese Days King and Queen in 2002, and he said he’s been to the D.C. area multiple times, most recently when his nephew — who was in the U.S. Coast Guard — married a fellow Coast Guard member several years ago.
From the edge of the hill at the Air Force Memorial, which looks out over the nation’s capital, Streiff and Legler could see the nearby Pentagon and the since-fixed portion that was struck 23 years ago by a jetliner in the 9/11 attacks. The two Green County residents paused to take in the scene, as they had their own personal connection to that fateful day. Streiff’s nephew — the Coast Guard member whose wedding he had attended in the 1990s, and who met the pair at Reagan Airport earlier that morning — had an office on the side that was hit by the plane.
“He was supposed to be in a meeting in D.C., so he was in transit. Otherwise, he would have been in his office,” said Legler, of Monticello.
As the day came to an end, Mission 55 travelers were greeted upon their return to Madison by thousands of cheerful people — friends, family, volunteers and proud Americans just wanting to show their gratitude. The veterans walked through the sign- and flag-holding crowd like athletes in a championship parade, shaking hands, giving high fives and reveling in the moment.
Closure for the heroes
“This Honor Flight was just the icing on the cake,” said Puritan, who traveled with his son, John, as his guardian. “We have really enjoyed it.”
Signer was hoping the trip would, in part, help him get over some of his inner struggles since returning from battle.
“There are some people I want to see on the (Vietnam Memorial) wall,” he said, referencing fallen brothers in arms.
Signer said he is on disability from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) he suffered due the conflict, but thankfully for him, his family has supported and stuck by his side for all these decades since. “Life’s been pretty darn good,” he said.
Hibbs grew up in Iowa, where registered for the Army. He served from 1969-71, and eventually moved to Wisconsin in 1988. Like Signer, he was hopeful the trip would allow him to make peace with himself and his memories of war.
“Cleansing the soul a little bit,” Hibbs said. “You go over there to the Vietnam Wall, and you think about the sacrifice these guys made — and we walked away. That’s where a lot of it is for me.”
Hibbs said that like most other Vietnam soldiers, he doesn’t really talk much to other people about the war or his memories of battle.
“(Vietnam) — that’s kind of where we left it. I think this is helping me open up a little bit,” Hibbs said.
E5 Fred “Tim” Agee of New Glarus was a Marine and fought in Vietnam from 1968-72. He was then stationed in D.C. for a time after the war, but that was before the war memorials were all constructed. He said the Honor Flight trip was very emotional. More than 50 years after battling the enemy, he battled back his own tears while trying to find the right words to match his thoughts during this latest trip to Washington D.C.
“I’ve waited for years to see this. Does it give me closure? No. But what it does is … I guess it gives me closure for the heroes, and that’s who it’s dedicated to,” Agee said. “I highly recommend it — highly. It’s very gratifying. It’s rewarding.”
E4 Charles Priddy served in the Air Force from 1968-72.
“The Vietnam Monument, that’s my era and that was moving. I was fortunate I didn’t have to be on the ground to fight there, but that’s my generation. To have over 58,000 people that died there, and then to see their names, it puts something to that number. If it had not been for this trip, I would not have felt that emotion,” Priddy said. “I was also very fortunate I did not have an issue when I got out — I simply went home. I didn’t have any traumatic memories to mess with me, but I do have friends that did — and I can see now why they did.”
Signer said the 101st Airborne Division holds an annual reunion from May 10-20 at Fort Collins, Kentucky, for those that fought at Hamburger Hill, though he still hasn’t attended one yet — but after his Honor Flight trip, he may give it more of a thought for 2025. About five years ago, his battalion offered a trip to go back to Vietnam, and he declined to join that as well.
“I thought about it several times. In the afterthought, I kind of wish I would have went, but I don’t know how I would have handled it. Sometimes it’s easier to avoid,” Signer said.
Honor Flight: Veteran recommended
Welton, a member of the American Legion in Monroe, said he knows other veterans that have taken bus trips to Washington D.C., but none that have taken the Badger Honor Flight. He said he is going to highly recommend to other legion members back home to make the trip.
“Once you get an opportunity — especially this opportunity — it is fantastic,” said Welton, whose daughter was his guardian for the journey. “I am going to take this back and say, ‘Hey guys, more of you need to do this. You need to get out and see what there is to offer out here.’”
Puritan said it’s just something a veteran should do if offered the opportunity.
“It was a beautiful flight out, and nice bus ride, a chance to see a lot of monuments. It is just fantastic and a great opportunity. I think anybody that has got the chance … I hope these people can come out and see it. It’s just really worth seeing,” Puritan said.
Signer added that while the day was long, it will be worth it for those who get the chance to go.
“It’ll be a good day. It’ll be a long and tiring day, but it’ll be a good day,” Signer said.
Among the oldest travelers on Mission 55 was Army CPL Marvin “Marv” Fosaaen of New Glarus, a Korean War veteran that served from 1953-55.
“I’m going to be 92 in January, so I figured it would be a good time to go — I may never get there,” Fosaaen said of the Honor Flight.
Volunteers thank the veterans, veterans thank the volunteers
Each Honor Flight volunteer gave their thanks to every veteran throughout the day — both verbally and through their actions. They continuously offered assistance or guidance, food and water, or anything else they could to make the day easier for those they are helping honor. That treatment was not overlooked by the veterans or their guardians.
“It’s been a blessing for these people to do this, and for what they’re doing for nothing — they’re not getting paid for this. They are not getting a salary or anything — this is what they want to do,” said Priddy.
Priddy and his wife now split their time between Monroe and North Carolina.
“You don’t know what to expect, and you just come into it ready to take it for what it is. But this is so well organized and so planned out,” Priddy said. “This would help a lot of people, and it could have helped a lot of people in the past.”
His guardian, Frank Schneider, is based in Washington D.C. and met him at Reagan Airport.
“This guy (Schneider) lives up here. He has been so helpful and so informative. It really makes you grateful for what these folks do for us as veterans,” Priddy said. “I think a nation like ours, it’s something they should have been doing for many years. This has been a really good trip.”
At MSN right away in the morning, dozens upon dozens of volunteers showed up to assist veterans checking in, help them get coffee or breakfast from a table set up by the American Red Cross, and to be greeted for their send off.
Among the volunteers was a woman named Nadine, who previously volunteered for a women’s flight. So far in 2024, she has personally battled both breast cancer and a broken ankle.
“I thought to myself, ‘Can it get any worse this year?’” she said.
With a medical boot on her leg and cancer in the rearview mirror, she wasted no time getting back on the floor to help out.
“I was asked if I wanted to volunteer again, and I could not turn it down,” Nadine said. While she didn’t take the flight to Washington for Mission 55, she’s hopeful she will be fully healed up to travel for one of the spring flights in 2025.
Mission 55’s staff included BHF chairman Brian Ziegler, his wife and medical team member Laura Ziegler, and their son Danny Ziegler, who has helped with the flights for over a decade since before he was in high school. Many of the volunteers have been involved for over 10 years. Bus captains included Tiffany Tobias, Eileen Stevens, Doug Petrick and Chris Lindert. The Flight Director is Jody McClain. Medical team members that travel along for the trip include Dr. Franklin Meyers, Julie Kryger, Christopher Virnig, Patricia Scanlin and Trevor Hinze.
The Honor Flights work together with the airports, busing companies and memorial staff, and they follow a strict timeline in order to balance going to all of the sightseeing locations, and maximizing the time at each for personal reflection.
“We were just commenting on the way over here how organized they are — with all of the volunteers and getting us from here to there to there,” Streiff said. “This is really fantastic as far as the way it is orchestrated with the bus movement.”
Anyone looking to volunteer should email volunteerevents@badgerhonorflight.org. The best way to get notified about upcoming volunteer opportunities and events is to attended monthly meetings. The times, dates and locations of those meetings can be found at badgerhonorflight.org. The organization is one of several in Wisconsin — including Stars and Stripes out of Milwaukee, which also attended Washington D.C. at the same time as BHF’s Mission 55.
Flight prep takes between 1-2 months before each travel date, while fundraising is done all year with several individual events happening across Wisconsin each month.
To stay updated with an Honor Flight trip as it happens, follow Badger Honor Flight on Facebook.