Area Korea and and Vietnam war veterans were treated to the rides of their lives a week ago.

Fifty-eight veterans of those wars set out on two buses for Washington, D.C., at 5 a.m. on a Saturday for an all-expense-paid trip to the capital, courtesy of Honor Flight Pittsburgh.

The local heroes toured the nation’s capital and visited war memorials such as the Marine Corps and Korean War monuments and Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Honor Flight is a national organization that aims to thank military personnel for their service, which is mainly accomplished by taking them on trips to Washington, “to see the memorials that were built in honor of their service,” said Ron Schall, organizer and Honor Flight Pittsburgh board member.

The event is held twice annually. Because of our close proximity to the nation’s capital, our local contingent usually buses there instead of flies. The veterans are accompanied on the trips by “guardians” who lead and aid them throughout the day. No World War II veterans participated this year.

As icing on the cake, veterans returned late that night to a surprise welcome for them at Victory Family Church in Cranberry Township. The crowd cheered and thanked the veterans as they filed down a red carpet into seats, flanked by the Patriot Guard Riders and their flags.

“This is absolutely overwhelming, over the top,” Vietnam War veteran John Weinheimer Jr. said of the welcome on his return to Cranberry Township after the veterans’ very long day. “I don’t know what to say — when we came through that door, we never expected anything like that.”

Honor Flight is constantly raising money to fund these trips, and Schall said there are many ways for people in cities across the nation to get involved with the organization.

“It costs $10,000 per bus each time we go, so we are always raising money,” Schall said. “Some of the supporters are the family of veterans. A lot are just local community people.”

We urge our readers to support this event and thank our veterans for their service.

— JGG