NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — An Honor Flight full of 32 veterans and guardians will take off from Nashville International Airport today.
Many of the veterans who served in Korea, Vietnam, or World War II will visit Washington D.C., and the memorials built to commemorate their service and sacrifice for the very first time. The trip is completely free for every veteran.
WATCH Vietnam Veteran looking forward to the camaraderie on Honor Flight trip
One of the veterans on board the flight, is Vietnam War vet, James Baker. He served in the United States Marine Corps for two decades. He had just turned 19 when he landed in Vietnam in 1967.
"Semper Fidelis. For I was, I am, and shall forever be, a United States Marine. Honor, Courage, and commitment," he reads. "You do live by it."
He would stay in Vietnam for nearly two years. He said when he came home, he still wasn't old enough to vote.
"I was young, I didn't know what the hell I was doing there for, what I was even there for. Nobody did, but I do. That you're there for the guy next to you. That's it, no other reason whatsoever other than the guy standing next to you," Baker said.
That feeling of camaraderie has stuck with Baker ever since. Most likely, as the veterans arrive for their Honor Flight, they won't know each other. Baker said he might not know their names, but he will understand their experience.
"I'm looking forward to it, like I said, you go with like people, you have a shoulder to lean on. It's just an opportunity. I'm looking forward to it."
That feeling of brotherhood will drive his search through the more than 58,000 names on the Vietnam War Memorial to find the names of five men he knew who never made it home.
"I've got five names from my high school class and my best friend at the time died in a helicopter crash on August the 25th, I think it was 25th or 28th of August of 1968.....it's a lot to deal with," he said.
The Honor Flight takes the veterans to the nation's capital to visit the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam War Memorial. The afternoon ends at a changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They land back in Nashville later this evening.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Megan.Scarano@NewsChannel5.com
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