LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Honor Flight Bluegrass celebrates more veterans with a free trip to Washington, D.C. to tour war memorials.

What You Need To Know

  • Honor Flight provides free day-trips to Washington, D.C. memorials for World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans

  • Honor Flight Bluegrass took the largest group of Vietnam veterans on their latest trip

  • The veterans visited war memorials in Washington, D.C.

This week, Honor Flight Bluegrass completed another mission to Washington, D.C. with nearly 80 Kentucky veterans.

The April 20 trip included 70 Vietnam War veterans, the largest group of such veterans that have attended a single Honor Flight.

Carl Jackson Jr. was along for the journey.

“Here’s a picture of me from 1966 when I first went in the service, and this is Carl Jackson in Vietnam in 1968,” Jackson explains while FaceTiming a group of schoolchildren back in Kentucky. 

“I’m the show and tell person for each one of you today,” Jackson said with a big smile.

 

“By flying the Vietnam veterans, we can honor them in a way that they weren’t honored 50 years ago when they came home,” Jeff Thoke of Honor Flight Bluegrass explained.

Thoke said this is their first trip ever without any World War II veterans aboard. More World War II vets are expected to fly on future trips, but Thoke acknowledges there are fewer and fewer available to participate.

“Your youngest World War II veteran is 95 years old,” Thoke said.

He added that the country only has an estimated 200,000 living World War II veterans.

Kentucky veterans visited each war memorial in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (Spectrum News 1/Jonathon Gregg)

Master Sgt. Gerald Dudgeon is 87 years old and was involved in two wars: the Korean War and Vietnam War.

“I served from 1952 until 1974,” Dudgeon said. This is Dudgeon’s first time visiting the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“Well, they are wearing their helmets and they are wearing ponchos and they are in what they call rice paddies,” Dudgeon said while describing the memorial. “It’s wonderful to be with my brothers and it’s a great honor. Some of the finest men I’ve ever known served within the military.”

During the Wednesday trip, two high school classmates and Vietnam War veterans Alan Fried and Forest Shaw reunited after 55 years apart.

“It was crazy, we were coming off of the flight getting ready to go to the buses and Forest turns around and says ‘Alan Fried,’ and I said ‘Yeah,’ and he said ‘Oh my God!’” Fried explained.

“I got reunited with a schoolmate who I haven’t seen since we graduated,” Shaw said.

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