CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Since 2008, Honor Flight Chicago — the local arm of a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to giving thanks to U.S. service members — has flown more than 10,000 veterans to Washington, DC, in order to pay respect to their bravery and sacrifice.
In recent years, Vietnam veterans have become Honor Flight's main beneficiaries.
On the latest episode of Looped In: Chicago, Vietnam veteran Jim Castello, from Oak Lawn, and his daughter shared their recent journey with Honor Flight and provided a glimpse into how the organization is serving American military heroes almost 50 years since their service.
“When I came home after Vietnam, I was 19,” said Castello. “I still had six more months to go. I was like a 40-year-old man. That's the way my mentality was. The guys that I grew up with — we were not on the same level. We could not communicate. There was nothing I could tell them. There was nothing they could tell me. I felt alone, isolated.”
For Vietnam veterans, specifically, Honor Flight has managed to provide an outpouring of respect and gratitude that was missing, post-Vietnam.
“It's almost like I didn't belong to this country anymore,” he said. “People really didn't treat you respectfully. I immediately took my uniform off, and then I had to try and fit in, get a job. I almost went back. That's how bad it was.”
Skokie resident Doug Meffley, co-director of Honor Flight Chicago, said Honor Flight began in 2005 as a way to help World War II veterans make it to the Capitol in order to see the World War II Memorial, which was completed in 2004.
Now, Meffley said Honor Flight’s waitlist is nearly 2,500 names long. World War II veterans, as well as Korean War veterans, are bumped to the top of the list. Vietnam veterans like Castello, might have to wait three to four years after they sign up.
Once they land in Washington, DC, though, a crowd of people are waiting to greet them as the veterans and their guardians, who then experience a police escort in luxury coach buses to their first stop. Castello’s daughter, Raquel, said the moment was an incredible surprise.
“As you’re walking out, you’re seeing this enormous line of people and military, you know, officers, women and men in uniform that are flanking both aisles with flags,” she said. “It took my breath away to the point where I was kind of speechless … I noticed my dad just trying to catch his breath because he was so overwhelmed. He was not expecting that.”
Honor Flight relies completely on donations in order to fly each veteran out to Washington, DC, free of cost, Meffley said.
To hear more about Honor Flight and Castello’s experience with his daughter, be sure to check out the full episode of Looped In: Chicago. You can find more Looped In: Chicago episodes on the Audacy app or wherever you find your podcasts.
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