McHenry welcomes Honor Flight attendees home

About 60 veterans and 25 guardians walked into the McHenry High School gym Sunday to lots of cheers and applause. Family members, friends and community members also greeted the veterans by waving American flags and holding up signs.

The veterans had returned from this year’s Honor Flight, which offers veterans a chance to see the sights in and around Washington, D.C., and a chance for camaraderie with fellow veterans.

The Honor Flight took off early Thursday and stops on the trip included the U.S. Capitol, and Arlington National Cemetery and other sites.

The group landed at Milwaukee Airport Sunday morning and bus trip home received a motorcycle escort back to McHenry. Parts of the motorcycle escort were filmed and shared on social media. The Veterans Network Committee, who coordinated the Honor Flight, shared Facebook clips of the escort making its way down Interstate 94 in Wisconsin and Route 120 in McHenry.

While the veterans made their way to McHenry High School, people began filing into the gym to welcome them home.

About noon, McHenry High School cheerleaders and family and friends of the Honor Flight participants lined yellow barricades leading from the gym outside to welcome the veterans as they got off the bus. The barricades were decorated with signs saying “Welcome Home” and “Thank you.”

As was the case in years past, Sunday’s ceremony was meant to be a surprise for the Honor Flight veterans.

Debbie Peterson of Lake Zurich was at the ceremony Sunday to welcome her brother, Albert “Ted” Peterson, back home. Peterson said she was “so happy” her brother got to go on the trip and thought it was “wonderful” the flights take place.

Peterson said her brother, who served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, was going to text her when he got to D.C., but he didn’t.

“He’s not aware of any of this,” Peterson said about the welcome home festivities. She said before the ceremony that she was hoping there would be a good turnout and said, “It’s a nice finishing touch.”

Johnny Vargas, age 96½ and a Korean War veteran, was the oldest person on the trip.

Vargas said “they named me the king” and he was given a crown. At one of the museums the group visited while in Washington, there were a lot of aircraft. “They had every plane I could think of,” Vargas said.

The warm welcome Vargas and the other veterans received Sunday was a far cry from what veterans received when they were coming home from conflicts such as Korea or Vietnam.

Mary Vargas, Johnny’s wife, said with Korea, “they just ignored it.” When Vietnam veterans came home, Vargas said they were not treated with respect.

Allan Heinke of Algonquin returned from his first Honor Flight on Sunday. He said he served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1970, during the Vietnam era. He said he talked to a buddy who encouraged him to sign up for the trip.

Heinke said he “loved” the trip, and among his favorite parts was the motorcycle escort on the way home. He said when the Honor Flight landed in Washington, those in the lobby were “clapping their heads off.”

He encouraged everybody in the Army to go on the trip, especially Vietnam and Korean war veterans.

“I truly hope” they keep doing the flights, Heinke said.

At the high school, the McHenry High School band played patriotic songs and there was a ceremony to welcome the Honor Flight veterans back home. Sunday’s ceremony marked the third time the high school hosted an Honor Flight’s return, going back to 2022.

There will be an Honor Flight reunion Nov. 9 at the McHenry VFW, 3002 Route 120, McHenry. At the reunion, a movie made by McHenry journalism students who accompanied the veterans on the trip will make its debut. Doors open at 5 p.m., the movie viewing starts at 5:30 p.m. and appetizers will be served.

For information about the reunion, email the VNC at veteransnetworkcommitteeofni@gmail.com.