Calling All Vietnam Vets: Your Time Is Now
North Country Honor Flight's executive officer, Jerika Manning said, they fly from Plattsburgh, NY to Washington, D.C. to visit the Airforce Memorial, Marine Memorial, WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Wall and the changing of the guard.
The average WWII vet is just over 100-years-old. The average Korean War vet is mid-80s to early-90s. Manning said they are seeing less of those veterans as they get older. The next big group to focus on is the Vietnam War vets.
'When Honor Flight started, it was organized in a large part by Vietnam veterans who were serving the WWII veterans, and the Korean War veterans. They never thought it was their time,' said Manning.
'There never became a time where we really focused on asking the Vietnam veterans to apply and letting them know and reminding them that they have more than earned and deserve this trip, but that it's their time to start applying now.
One of those Veterans, Greg Lee, served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. He said that's when the war took the most casualties. Lee signed up at just 16-years-old, after he said he lied to get in. That decision, according to Lee, is something he's never regretted. He said some veterans have a hard time dealing with the whole subject though.
'A lot of these guys, I know them personally. A lot of them feel that they don't deserve to go, for whatever reason,' said Lee. 'Some of it might have to do with the treatment we got when we came home. Vietnam veterans weren't very welcomed.'
Lee admitted he had avoided seeing the Vietnam Wall for several years. It wasn't until 2 years ago that his buddies at North Country Honor Flight made the decision for him.
'A lot of the folks in Honor Flight decided I was going, so I went. I wish I had done it 10 years before that,' said Lee. 'It was a healing process.'
Lee said anybody can visit the memorials, but the experience of going with a group of fellow Vietnam veterans is unlike anything else. He urges any and all Vietnam veterans to get an application, sign up and go.
'You'll be glad you did,' said Lee.
Applications are available at North Country Honor Flight's website here. Manning said there is plenty of room for any vet that wants to go. The entire trip, including food and drinks, is free. The first flight of the season is May 17, 2025.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
8 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
XX Things On The Brink Of Collapse No One Talks About
Between the existential chaos around the world and whatever we're all dealing with in our personal lives, it feels like we're collectively acting like everything is fine these days, but that's not really the case. Political turmoil is wreaking havoc across the globe, climate change is getting realer by the second, and the global economy is shifting, for better or for worse. Needless to say, we're in very trying times, and it feels like burnout is now a universal feeling. A recent post on the r/AskReddit sub asked users the following question: "What is currently on the brink of collapse but no one is talking about it?" From collapsing ecosystems to the rise of AI, these 19 responses highlight just how close our dystopian future might be: Note: these responses have been edited and condensed for clarity. "The orca pod known as J-pod, that are residents of the Pudget Sound, are starving as the salmon population is collapsing." "And to be specific, Chinook salmon. Chinook are their main food source because of the fat content, and they're on the brink of collapse. I mean, it's not looking good for all salmon species, but when/if the Chinook go extinct, that's the first big domino to fall in the Salish Sea ecosystem." "Here in the UK, the water table. Already seen a massive drought in the North with unprecedented lack of rainfall this year. Reservoirs and rivers are lower than they've been in decades. On top of leaking pipes that date back to WWII, we could honestly be talking about real drinking water shortages in 5-10 years." "Honestly, I'd say the internet. Everything requires an account, everything collects your information, you can't own anything because you can only get subscriptions to services. There are way too many social media platforms, which are somehow all owned by the same few mega corporations (Meta, Google, Microsoft, etc.) AI is slowly taking over everything and spewing out misinformation left and right." "Lots of collectively-owned private, professional businesses: Private equity has been relentlessly buying up veterinarian practices, CPA firms, and — I'm sure — all kinds of other businesses so they can egregiously increase prices, sell everything that isn't nailed down, cut staff to nothing, then sell the little bit that's left to some naive future buyer at a hugely inflated cost." "Teachers. Not teaching itself, but the whole system around it. So many teachers are underpaid, overworked, and just done. A lot are quitting quietly or switching careers, and schools are struggling to replace them. It's kind of scary how fast it's unraveling, but no one's really screaming about it yet." "Maybe not on the brink, but possibly approaching — The AMOC, or Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, is a large system of ocean currents that acts like a conveyor belt, circulating warm and cold water throughout the Atlantic Ocean." "Bridges, railroad lines, power grids, and water pipes. Some of them are decades old and unstable (Germany)." "A bunch of small ecosystems around the world." "The working class. Hopefully, the collapse will wake some folks up, but I don't have a lot of hope when they seem perfectly happy in their caves staring at the shadows." "Critical thinking. Humanity is over-reliant on devices and AI to do their thinking for them instead of using tech to enhance their own thinking." "The movie industry feels that way in Hollywood right now." "The Cascadia Subduction Zone." "The 'enrollment cliff' is starting. This year, the lack of kids born during and after the 2008 recession is starting to graduate from high school. In this population pyramid, you can see that starting at the 15-19 age group, birth rates went down and kept going down. Now, it was already going down on average, but right before the recession, there was a small uptick that could have been a turnaround." "Civilizations decline/collapse over generations — I'd suggest that there is a strong possibility that 'the free liberal West' is in the early stages of a multi-generational decline, not unlike that of the Roman empire. Facebook and Netflix are our bread and circuses while around us, cultures that are not compatible with our (democratic, egalitarian, progressive, liberal) values are rising to challenge and eventually displace us. It won't happen in my lifetime, but it is happening." "The Anthropocene." "Overly complex appliances, cars, TVs, etc." "I think our civilization's ability to write without Generative AI. I believe writing is thinking, and it provides clarity to our thoughts. A vast majority of university students are now relying on services like ChatGPT, which I believe will eventually affect us in the long run. I don't have research backing up my claim, and I hope I'm wrong. Regardless, I'm worried." "Surprised I didn't see many posts about insects. We are in a mass extinction event of something like 60% of their population."
Fox News
a day ago
- Fox News
WWII hero's remains finally coming home after 80-year mystery is solved through military dedication
Nearly eight decades after he disappeared in a World War II plane crash over Burma, the remains of a Pennsylvania airman have been identified, paving the way for the hero's long-awaited burial at Arlington National Cemetery. In the summer of 1943, U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Henry J. Carlin, a 27-year-old from Philadelphia, was among six crew members aboard a B-25C "Mitchell" bomber that went down during a low-altitude raid in Meiktila, Burma. Carlin's remains and those of three others on board were not recovered after the war, and they were declared missing in action. The other two surviving crew members were captured by Japanese forces, according to the report. It is unclear if they returned home. The four heroes' remains were buried in a common grave near Kyunpobin, Burma, without identification, and later recovered by the American Grave Registration Service in 1947. Witnesses only described them as being from an "American crash," complicating the identification process. The bodies, listed as "unknowns" in Honolulu's National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, were exhumed in 2022, after the Department of Defense approved the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's (DPAA) disinterment request. To identify Carlin's remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and radio isotope analysis. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA analysis to make a positive ID, which was confirmed April 16. Bringing closure to a mystery that spanned generations, Carlin's remains will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in May 2026. Carlin's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with the others missing from WWII, according to the DPAA. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Carlin served as a navigator and was a member of the 22nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium), 10th Air Force.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
City of Albuquerque to host public meeting on potential changes to tree-related ordinances
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque's tree-related ordinances are being reviewed, and officials want community members to provide their input. According to the city, the goal of the review is to recommend code updates that 'support protecting and growing an urban canopy that enhances every neighborhood.' Story continues below Education: APS Board members respond after vulgar text messages sent during board meeting Trending: Working group offers recommendations for AI use in schools to NM lawmakers News: Metropolitan Detention Center reports 6th inmate death this year Urban Forestry staff are planning to meet with members of the community to share ideas, discuss goals, and get feedback. A virtual meeting will be held on July 30 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Registration is required and can be completed here. The city also asks that community members take the updated tree ordinance survey that can be accessed here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
