(PHOTOS PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
HONOR FLIGHT … U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial.
HONOR FLIGHT … Mayor Toeppe with motorcycle police officer.
HONOR FLIGHT … Arlington National Cemetery.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Swanton Mayor Neil Toeppe was among a group of roughly 150 people to travel to Washington D.C. with the nonprofit Honor Flight at the beginning of the month.
Toeppe said the group consisted of veterans and their designated guardians for the day, a partner required by the program.
He initially said he had a couple in mind, hoping to bring two friends of his, but when program staff found out the two were also veterans, they were brought on as attendees with their own guardians.
So, on April 1, Toeppe met friends Roger Gillen – a U.S. Army veteran and Swanton American Legion member – and Terry Fitzgerald – a U.S. Air Force veteran and helicopter pilot and instructor – at the Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport just outside Swanton.
After landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, they boarded buses where they were taken first to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial which includes a statue of soldiers raising an American flag at Iwo Jima. From there, they went to Arlington National Cemetery, pausing at the Air Force Memorial for a group photo.
Toeppe and the other attendees were able to watch the changing of the guard at Arlington from seats at the front, which had been set aside for them, before witnessing a wreath-laying ceremony.
After a lunch break at the National Museum of the United States Navy, they were bussed to the National Mall and dropped off at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
From there, they were able to visit the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial as well as the adjoining Vietnam Women’s Memorial, which is dedicated to the women and nurses involved in the Vietnam War.
“It was interesting there,” Toeppe said. “One of the things that was really striking and heartfelt was there was a tour guide explaining the nurses’ memorial to a group of what looked like they might have been middle school children.’
“A few of us were walking around there, and the tour guide pointed us out to the school children, saying ‘See those guys in the yellow shirts? They’re here with Honor Flight. They’re real American heroes.’”
Toeppe said the recognition also drew a small applause from the group. “What’s striking about that was that was not the type of greeting or recognition that anybody that served during Vietnam when they got home from that period, so that was rather touching,” he said.
Then, at the Lincoln Memorial, Toeppe had another unique encounter. He decided to go get his picture taken with a police officer on a motorcycle who had rolled up to the memorial.
“When he saw that I was from Ohio, he said he knew somebody from Ohio, a fellow named Haraz Ghanbari. I said well that’s interesting, I had dinner with him the night before,” he said.
Ghanbari is the Ohio state representative for House District 75, representing Perrysburg. Apparently, the officer and Ghanbari had served in the military together.
The group then had dinner at the U.S. Army Women’s Museum before heading back to the airport. They were recognized again at the airport by a choral group who sang the national anthem, “America, the Beautiful,” and a third song before they boarded their flight.
Upon landing at home in Ohio, they were given a performance outside the terminal by a bagpiping group before a large garage-style door was opened, revealing a hangar full of people.
“A band was playing, children and adults were all cheering, flags were waving, they were saying things like ‘welcome home’ and ‘thank you for your service,’” Toeppe said.
“This isn’t the kind of welcome … just about all the time when folks came home from their duty assignment on leave or at the end of their service after Vietnam.”
“They were told not to wear their uniforms. Veterans were being spat upon, jeered, being called baby killers. It was not a warm welcome.”
Toeppe said he and his two friends all served during the 1960s while the Vietnam War was ongoing, but none of them were deployed.
In addition to the performances, the veterans were given cards and letters written by friends as well as anonymous individuals thanking them.
“It was a very, very exciting experience,” Toeppe said. “During the whole trip, the tour guide on the bus narrated non-stop, telling us the history of everywhere we were going, everything we were driving past.”
He said the best part wasn’t the monuments but having the time together with other veterans as well as the respect they were shown throughout the trip.
“And then when you came home, you can’t help but have this sense of gratitude and appreciation when you’re greeted so warmly when you return,” Toeppe said.