‘It’s a good feeling in your heart’: Dozens celebrate Honor Flight at Nashville International Airport

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For more than ten years, nationwide program Honor Flight has taken eligible World War II, Korean War and Vietnam veterans on a free trip to see their respective war memorials in the nation’s capital.

On Tuesday morning, one of those flights took off from Nashville International Airport (BNA) and it was an exciting and emotional trip for many.

“It’s what keeps our country the way it is — the military,” Vietnam War Army veteran Marty Wheetley said. “There’s a lot of sacrificing these people are giving to be in the military.”

Bright and early, family and the community gathered for the sendoff. Twenty-nine veterans boarded the flight to Washington, DC bright and early Tuesday morning for the sendoff. Marine Corps veteran James White told News 2 that the scene brought tears to his eyes.

“Sometimes it makes me choked up to talk about it, but it makes me feel honored,” White said. “The people in the airport that was standing up, the people that didn’t know us, they stood up and applauded and that means a lot to me, too.”

The group landed at Ronald Regan Washington National Airport. They’re spending the day driving by several war memorials and the Pentagon. For many, it will be there first time seeing these sites.

“I guess the most important thing to me is the wall,” Wheetley said. “Everybody on the wall didn’t come back.”

Attendees also went to the Solemn Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery before having a meal together. Many volunteers for the sendoff at BNA were veterans themselves, some volunteering with the USO.

Robert Hunt, who served in the United States Coast Guard, said that opportunities like this are important because they preserve a brotherhood that extends across all of the services.

“We’re kind of a big family,” Hunt told News 2. “We serve our country; we love our country and it’s just friends getting back together talking about old times.”