Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1510185
54 maconmagazine.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023 30-minute ground stop for area storms. But once underway, it was a smooth flight home, with a dual surprise: "mail call" and cake. MGHF had arranged for family, friends, scout troops, and middle schools to submit cards and letters to the veterans. A personal bag of mail was delivered to each one, simulating mail call when soldiers heard from home during their days of service. Robin, our flight attendant, further sweetened the moment, serving thick slices of caramel or chocolate layer cake to everyone aboard, her personal contribution to every Honor Flight she works. Despite advance notice of mail call, I fought back tears watching our veterans savor every last correspondence and bite of cake. Before landing I walked the length of the plane, taking photos of each veteran and their guardian, their grins a mile wide, so they could remember this extraordinary moment, and I could too. Middle Georgia Honor Flight maintains a website where participants are invited to share their photos of the day. I uploaded 458 photos and 14 videos. Heroes' welcome at home Upon touching down in Macon around 9:40 p.m., our Mission 15 group was held in the boarding area until everyone had disembarked, and then — the finale and ultimate surprise, the heroes' welcome that eluded Vietnam veterans a half-century ago. Approximately 100 people packed the terminal. In a booming voice, MGHF board member and Georgia Radio Hall of Fame inductee, Ben Sandifer, introduced them with, "WELCOME HOME!" The last of many tear-filled moments that day, a roar erupted as each veteran was wheeled or walked through the terminal, greeted with wild applause, cheers, handshakes, and hugs from the throng of adults and children, family and friends, all waving flags and signs, who had gathered to top off this singular day. "Welcome home!" A half-century later those two simple words pack a punch, countering the indifference and disrespect Vietnam veterans in America weathered upon returning home. To see and hear the reactions of the men and one woman on MGHF 15 during our 16-hour adventure was to get some sense of how profoundly America failed the young men and women whom they sent to fight in Vietnam. When asked about his passion for the MGHF program Sandifer said, "I didn't serve, but have great respect for those who did. This is my way of serving, but I don't know if any Honor Flight could ever make things up to our veterans." Roger Jennings, MGHF co-founder added, "It's so gratifying to be with the veterans when they see their memorial, or when someone thanks them for their service, and it gives me great joy to see the veterans' responses at the welcome home. Of the 200-plus veterans who we've taken on our 15 flights, I still meet with some and have formed lasting relationships." We le Macon as strangers on that bleak Saturday morning and returned as friends a er an intense, emotional day. According to Priya Parker in her book, The Art of Gathering, there's an expression derived from an 16th century Japanese tea master: "Ichigo ichie," roughly translated, "one meeting, one moment in your life that will never happen again." Middle Georgia Honor Flight Mission 15 was just such a moment. Want to go? Visit middlegahonorflight. org to apply for a Flight as a veteran, sign up to be a Guardian, or sponsor the program. Submit your photo from the Flight to be in a future Macon Magazine Faces gallery. Upcoming Honor Flights November 4, 2023 March 23, 2024 April 20, 2024 May 18, 2024 September 7, 2024 October 5, 2024 November 2, 2024 [A] roar erupted as each veteran was wheeled or walked through the terminal, greeted with wild applause, cheers, handshakes, and hugs from the throng of adults and children, family and friends, all waving flags and signs...