🇺🇸 On flight #34 of Honor Flight of Northeast Indiana, I had the honor of photographing and escorting 81 veterans around the nation’s capital to see memorials built in their honor and for friends whom they lost in battle. Many of these veteran men and women fought in multiple wars, giving up precious years of their life answering the call to defend a nation they never knew and a people they never met.

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Seeing these veterans’ reverence, hearing their stories of camaraderie, and capturing their raw emotions left its own mark deep within me, changing my life and perspective forever.

How could an average young woman like me understand something so complex, devastating, and wholly consuming as war? I cannot. Only through these men and women’s legacy can I hope to be brave enough to do even half of what they’ve done if my country ever asked me.

Our perception problem with the elderly (which hurts veterans)

What hit me the hardest was seeing these men and women, no different than you or I, but aged in a way that makes the general public see them as “lesser.” That we as Americans have a terrible habit of treating our elderly not as wise sages and living history books of the past, but as nuisances to be annoyed by and cast aside.

To see these Honor Flight veterans move about in the world and hear of the amazing, vulnerable, and yet intensely courageous acts they undertook… all while knowing how our society treats them without asking about any of that… it’s enough to break your heart. And it did mine.

What do our lives mean? And why that’s important the older we get.

One Honor Flight veteran even told me he remembered coming home from Vietnam. He cringed, recalling that someone at the airport actually threw a bag of feces at him. He said this Honor Flight Homecoming — a stark opposite from that day — with a crowd of 2,000 strong, clapping and cheering him on, was one of the best days of his life.

Many people often say children are the future of our world. I don’t deny that, but I think focusing only on the formative years of life misses half the point. What about the latter years of one’s life? If a large chunk of your life felt unappreciated and undervalued — as so many of these veterans feel — how can they be at peace?

If you don’t feel like your efforts meant something, your later years will be something to dread when you reflect on your life and its meaning. Especially when loneliness starts creeping in, as often does for our elderly.

That’s not how life should be lived. Especially lives who chose patriotism, who chose the future over themselves, and who aren’t sure what do with memories that don’t make sense in today’s changing society like they did years ago.

What can we do for veterans?

Here’s my question to you: Do you honor veterans?

When you see a veteran hat, always shake their hand — in the grocery store, at a park, or wherever you may be.  Don’t let your discomfort or anxiety with approaching a stranger hold you back. These “strangers” are the reason you live as you do today in a free and privileged nation.

To gain perspective, hear touching stories from veterans of all walks of life, and hear intimate Honor Flight stories, I’d encourage you to watch WANE 15’s (CBS Fort Wayne)’s Veterans Day special program called “Veterans Voices.” While on Honor Flight, I even made a surprise appearance at 54:20, thanking veterans for making this country what it is today.

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The main takeaway I received from Honor Flight is this:

Please look into a veteran’s eyes and shake their hand. If you do nothing else, it’s a simple gesture that means everything to them: validation, respect, and meaning that their time served wasn’t in vain. That this generation knows the horror of war and will do its best not to repeat the past’s mistakes. ♥️

Getting involved with Honor Flight

Whatever chapter of Honor Flight is nearest to you, PLEASE consider volunteering, donating, serving as a guardian on a trip, or writing cards to show our veterans how much we appreciate their service. There are nearly 140 chapters across the United States, providing thousands of flights that allow veterans the peace they need to go on every year. This organization is 100% dependent on donations, and each flight costs about $100,000 to transport 90-100 veterans.

Click here to find your local Honor Flight hub and make a donation online. Or, to donate by mail to the national hub located in Columbus:

Honor Flight
Box L-4016
Columbus, OH 43260-4016

You can even donate your unused Southwest Rapid Rewards airline points! Simply log into your Southwest account online, navigate to the points center, click “donate points,” and select Honor Flight as your charity. Southwest will send you a confirmation of your donation.

The easiest way to show respect for a Veteran: Write a card

If you write a card and mail it to Honor Flight, it will be given to them on the flight home from D.C. This is one of their favorite, most powerfully raw emotional moments of the entire day. If only you could see how these war-torn veterans’ faces light up when they read letters from people they’ve never met, touch drawings from school children, and shed tears on envelopes with names they don’t even know. It is the definition of “moving.”

Feel free to mail your cards to your local Honor Flight chapter, OR Luke and myself would be glad to collect them and mail huge bulk packages on all our readers’ behalf. We will provide updates on how many we receive and where they go here on our blog, Born In Defiance.

Our mailing address:

Luke and Samantha Kuhn
P.O. Box 7
Sherwood, Ohio 43556

Honor Flight of Northeast Indiana has been a wonderful experience for all — especially these veterans who deserve our respect as much as the air we breathe. ♥️ Honor Flight is a truly noble 100% volunteer organization that proves to elderly veterans — sometimes even terminally ill — that their courageous patriotism was not in vain.

That this country remembers and will salute them til the end. 🇺🇸

Calling all veterans: Apply now!

Know a veteran who might be interested in applying for Honor Flight? Click here for an application. Remember, there is no cost for a veteran to go on Honor Flight. It’s a gift from their county to them: a final tour with HONOR.

You can also pick up an application at your local VFW or American Legion post. For further information, please contact Honor Flight at 614-558-6220 or via email at .

 

Looking for more? Check out this TV special I make an appearance in!

I was honored to thank all vets for their service in WANE 15 (CBS Fort Wayne)’s special Veterans Day program in 2019. This jam-packed special will make you cry, laugh, and learn all about the incredible Honor Flight organization. Thanks for reading, everyone!

*My section is at 54:20 if you want to skip ahead.