Lafayette, Ind. — Eighty-four World War II, Korean War and Vietnam veterans — including four from Clinton County — are set to depart Purdue University Airport Tuesday morning on the 28th Honor Flight of Greater Lafayette, a free, one-day trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials built in their honor before returning that evening to a public welcome-home celebration.
Michael Rule, Bob Ryan, Donald Hinesley and Ron Larson will represent Clinton County on the flight, joining veterans from across the Greater Lafayette area for a whirlwind day that includes stops at Arlington National Cemetery, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Air Force Memorial. Each veteran is paired with a guardian — often a family member — who assists with wheelchairs, luggage and the day’s demands at no cost to the veteran.
The trip is free for every veteran; guardians pay a $500 fee to help cover expenses. A $75,000 donation from GE Aerospace, announced last month, is covering roughly half the cost of this flight and came with 14 guardian slots for GE employees. Organizers say the hub, based at Purdue Airport, has flown nearly 2,300 veterans since its first mission in 2012.
The Clinton County Four
For Michael Rule, a drafted Vietnam veteran and Purdue graduate, the invitation came after years of watching a friend go through the program. “I had a friend, Jack Robins, [who] went on it, I think, two years ago,” Rule said, recalling how a dozen friends who take annual Caribbean cruises together went to greet Robins’ flight at the airport. “He kept asking me if I didn’t want to put my name in, and I kept putting it off, and so I finally thought, well, I’ll go.”
Rule’s oldest daughter will serve as his guardian — a decision made among three children who all wanted to go. His father served in the second wave at Normandy in World War II, and Rule said he still has never been able to bring himself to walk up close to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. “I stood off in the distance,” he said. “I just couldn’t bring myself to walk up close to it.”
Rule also recalled the sting of returning from Vietnam to a country that didn’t want reminders of the war. “I made the mistake of wearing a winter Army jacket across Purdue’s campus one morning, and some young girl — I didn’t know her — she did everything but spit on me,” he said. “After that, I never wore anything that said I’d been in the service. To see how people welcome veterans back now is a totally different story. I think we’ve learned our lesson.”
Bob Ryan, who served during the Vietnam era but was not a combat veteran, said he almost didn’t apply because he assumed the program was limited to combat veterans. “I would not have known this had it not been for the Rotary program,” Ryan said.
“I asked that question, and the other guy said, ‘Why didn’t you go?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m not a combat vet.’ He said, ‘We don’t have to be.’ So here I go.” Ryan’s 17-year-old grandson will serve as his guardian on what will be the teenager’s first trip to Washington.
“I’m glad to see this coming around now, where some people at least are acknowledging the service that was given by a whole bunch of young men and women.”
Donald Hinesley, a Rossville native and U.S. Army veteran born in 1939, served stateside during his enlistment and will be joined by guardian Mike Blunk, a fellow motorcyclist in Kevin Bol’s riding group who has served as an Honor Flight guardian before. Hinesley’s older brother, Joe, was held as a German prisoner of war for nearly a year during World War II. Asked what he’d tell a grateful public, Hinesley kept it simple: “I think they just ought to shake their hand and thank ’em for their service.”
He also shared a lighter memory from his training days — dreading KP duty. “Washing pots and pans, and man, that water was hot,” he said, laughing about the discipline required to keep a uniform “sharp,” down to the tie and pocket flaps.
Ron Larson, who served four years in the Air Force from 1966 to 1970 stationed in South America, will be making his first Honor Flight. “It means a lot,” Larson said. “I don’t know how you can go out there and not get a lump in your throat.” Larson recalled his uncle’s advice before he enlisted: “He said the Army and the Marines sleep under the stars, the Navy navigates by them, and the Air Force chooses their hotel by them.” Like Rule, Larson remembered the era’s chilly homecoming. “I wouldn’t have walked down State Street up here at Purdue with a uniform on,” he said of his return to the Purdue campus. “I think we’ve learned a lesson.”
A Mission Born From Loss
The Honor Flight hub traces its roots to a group of Gold Star mothers who approached Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski more than a decade ago after losing their own sons in military service. Roswarski, speaking at Sunday’s meet-and-greet ceremony for veterans and guardians, credited Marilyn France, Pam Mow, Brenda Wilson, Dana Vann and Patty Frist with founding the local chapter.
“These ladies came to my office and they said, ‘Hey, we want to do something to honor the loss of our children. We want to do something positive,’” Roswarski said. “You cannot tell those ladies no about anything. They were committed, they were dedicated, they were doing it with kindness and compassion for other veterans… that’s how the Honor Flight got started.” Roswarski said he served as co-president of the hub alongside Mow for several years before handing leadership to the current board, now led by president Adam Malady alongside board members Kevin Bol, Eric Palmer, Chuck Newton and Lonnie Wilson, with Adam Borger serving as medical director.
Veteran and longtime Honor Flight speaker Joe Bumbleberg offered the ceremony’s most quoted line, describing what it means to serve: “A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States for an amount up to and including their own life.” Bumbleberg, who has flown on a previous mission with his son, urged this year’s veterans to set aside old hurts for the day. “Put away the bad memories,” he told the group. “You’re going to go to one of the most beautiful government capitals in the world… a tribute of a grateful nation.”
Ceremony and Send-Off
Sunday’s meet-and-greet at the Honor Flight hangar opened with the presentation of colors by American Legion Post 11, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the national anthem, followed by an invocation from Chaplain Dave McKinney of American Legion Post 492. Jim France read the traditional “missing man” table ceremony, honoring service members who never returned home, before veterans were introduced bus by bus — Red, White, Blue and Gold — along with their bus captains and onboard medics. Organizers noted two Korean War veterans are flying alongside the group’s largely Vietnam-era veterans this trip.
Tuesday’s flight will depart Purdue Airport in the early morning after breakfast and a send-off from the Purdue band, arriving in Washington, D.C., for a full day of memorials before returning to Purdue Airport that evening. The community is invited to “Operation Home Coming,” the public welcome celebration at Purdue Airport, where crowds of 400 to 500 people typically turn out with flags and signs regardless of weather to greet the veterans as they come home.
Veteran and guardian applications for future flights are available at honorflightlafayette.com or through the Honor Flight Greater Lafayette Community Facebook page.
Eligible veterans include those who served on active duty at any time during World War II, the Korean War or Vietnam, including through 1975.
Editor’s note: Clinton County Daily News editor Russell Kaspar is accompanying the 28th Honor Flight of Greater Lafayette as a volunteer and will file a follow-up report after the trip returns Tuesday evening. One of the goals of the publication of this series is to make sure all veterans in the area who are eligible to board an honor flight to Washington DC have the opportunity to learn about the program and apply.