Veterans on Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., return to McHenry High School

When U.S. Army veteran Mike Parker returned home from Vietnam in 1967, like many of his comrades who were not warmly welcomed upon their return, he was greeted by rotten tomatoes, he said.

Parker’s return to McHenry High School on Sunday afternoon was much different, arriving to cheers and applause from family, friends and community members.

The McHenry High School band played a medley of patriotic anthems before a group of veterans who were returning from an Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., arrived at the gym. Audience members brought posters they made beforehand and waved small American flags handed out by greeters outside the high school as people walked into the building.

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Ron Sloan of McHenry, checks his phone as he waits for a group of veterans returning from an Honor Flight trip to Washington D.C., on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, whose Congressional district encompasses much of McHenry County, was there to welcome the veterans and spoke during the ceremony.

“This is the welcome home I needed,” Parker said.

Parker said one of his friends, who had been on an Honor Flight, told him about his experience and sent him an application for the Honor Flight. Parker said he was intrigued, applied and went on the trip

During their trip to the nation’s capital, the veterans visited several memorials. Parker said he previously visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, but saw it again on the Honor Flight trip.

Choking up, he said that the names of several of his friends, including a high school buddy, are on the wall.

“I took all sorts of pictures,” Parker said.

After coming home from the trip, Parker said he hopes to pay it forward and help other veterans he knows to experience future Honor Flights.

“It was everything I hoped for and more.”

—  Mike Parker, Vietnam Veteran

Parker was one of 63 veterans who were on this year’s Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. The group left Thursday and arrived back in McHenry on Sunday afternoon.

Hundreds of family and community members were there to greet them Sunday.

Janice Blecke had a sign for her brother-in-law, Anton J. Fisher, who also served in Vietnam. Before Sunday’s ceremony, she shared that the welcome and police escort home was a surprise to the Honor Flight attendees.

“[Fisher] didn’t expect anything like that,” Blecke said. “He said he didn’t know they’d have a police escort.”

The welcome back wasn’t the only surprise on the trip. Blecke said that Saturday night, the veterans received mail from their family members. Soldiers in the Vietnam War had a mail call and would get letters from family and friends when they were in a safe location.

“A lot of guys cry when they get letters,” Blecke said.

Phil Sweeney, who said he served in the U.S. Navy from 1977 to 1981, was among the veterans honored Sunday. Unlike some of the other veterans who served in the Vietnam War or other wars, Sweeney’s military service took place during peacetime.

“They knew Sweeney was in, they didn’t want to mess with anyone,” he said jokingly.

Regardless of when they served, Sweeney said a lot of the veterans found the trip to be a positive experience, being able to talk about their experiences overseas.

“For some of us, it was very healing,” Sweeney said. “I would call it alternative therapy.”

While the trip and reception were emotional events, Sweeney was wary of showing strong emotions about it Sunday while in public.

“I’ll cry when I get home,” he said.

In addition to the veterans and some of their caregivers, three McHenry High School journalism students were among the attendees.

“They didn’t get this when they came home,” journalism student Madisyn Spencer said.

Journalism students heard the stories of the veterans over the past several days and documented the trip.

“It was such a cool experience,” journalism student Madison Harvey said.