Washington, DC (WBEN) Saturday evening brought the 37 veterans of Honor Flight and their guardians to dinner, and a chance to catch up and talk with their new friends. For a couple of veterans, some surprises came their way.
"Oh, what a surprise. My granddaughter is a veterinarian, and what a surprise. She drove in to meet me tonight," says Tom Clouden, Jr., who served in the Army between Korea and Vietnam. He was stationed in Germany. Michaela Clouden came down from Philadelphia on Honor Flight weekend. "I was lucky enough to have off, and in my third year of residency, so I'm just having a weekend off, and I knew that this was this weekend, and I had asked my dad if this was something that could be done, because obviously the Buffalo Honor Flight runs a tight ship with their schedules, as they should, but I'm just really thankful that they were able to make this happen and make this surprise happen for us," says Michaela. She adds her colleagues were more than ready to help. "All of my resident mates were very willing to help move schedules and make sure that I head off this weekend, so that I was able to come and give this surprise. So, I have to thank all of the people that I work with, and I have to thank this guy to my right here, because without my grandfather there wouldn't have been a Dr. Clouden, and I get to have that because of him," says Michaela.
Clouden's son John, who served as his guardian, says he got help from the Honor Flight team. "I've been texting and sending pictures home to the family in Buffalo, and Michaela's on the text, and she said I could drive down. I'm off today. You can I come down? And I go, okay. Well doing dinner, and after dinner. I didn't know, and Mary said, 'You know, we have room at dinner. Bring her down,' and that's how it all happened. And it was.. it was awesome. So it was kind of like a last-minute kind of thing, because we're not really good at planning, so it worked out really well," says John.
Russ Casterline already had two surprises while in Washington. First, at the Korean Memorial, he received the Ambassador of Peace medal from the Korean Consulate. Just before dinner, he was informed he'd be one of the participants in the laying of the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. "I'm being honored for something that I never thought of being honored for it. I did what I had to do. I came home, I went to work," says the 97 year old Casterline.
While grandson Jonathan Liberti served as his guardian, Casterline received his biggest surprise when grandson Adam arrived. "I broke down. I was so surprised. It really was out of this world to see him there. I had no idea. And I have three grandchildren, three grandsons, that's all I have, plus a couple great grandchildren now, but that's my limit, that's all I have left," says Russ.
Johnathan says his grandfather is somebody he and his brother Adam have such a deep amount of respect for. "Between myself, Adam, my brother, who's here, and our other brother, Dan, and our mom was Russell and Dorothy's only child, so over the course of our lives we've been so close to our grandpa and granny at that point, but unfortunately in 2020 both of them passed away, so he references us as his grandsons, as as all he really has right now," says Johnathan. He says with the opportunity, it was really important to Adam that he made it down here. "He moved out to Manchester, New Hampshire a couple months ago, so the opportunities for Adam to see our grandpa are a little bit fewer and far between as they have been in the past. So I just know it was really important for him, and and he found a way to make it down here, so it was really special. It was a great moment to watch that happen, and I know everybody was choked up that was watching it, but it was incredible that he made it, made it down here," adds Johnathan.
Adam LIberti says didn't really know what to expect, as this a last-minute decision. "Family is really important to me, so I decided to put everything aside and make the trip down here. So, honestly, when I saw him, I kind of didn't expect the reaction that he gave, and it was.. it choked me up a lot, and it just, it really means a lot to have me, my older brother, and my grandfather here, and to see the way he's getting treated. It's just, it's unbelievably good," says Adam Liberti.
All veterans received a surprise of the mail call experience. After dinner, each veteran received mail from youngsters thanking them for their service.
Veteran reads mail received during Honor Flight dinnerTom Puckett WBEN Photo
Veterans enjoy dinner and mail at Honor FlightTom Puckett WBEN Photo
