The five area veterans that participated on this round of the Honor Flight included Leo Wroblewski from Silver Creek, Donald Armstrong from Falconer, Daniel Barlette of Dunkirk, Edward Kirchhoff of Jamestown and James Spence from Randolph.

Wroblewski served during the Korean War and said he had meant to go on the Honor Flight last year but was not able to then, so he did now.

“I’d never been to Washington DC and this was my first time getting to see the memorials,” Wroblewski said. “That was my favorite part, especially the Korean War Memorial.”

The other four veterans on the trip served during the Vietnam War. For Spence, being a Vietnam veteran was why he was interested in coming on the flight.

Pictured are the five local area veterans that participated in the June Buffalo-Niagara Honor Flight, Leo Wroblewski, Donald Armstrong, Daniel Barlette, Edward Kirchhoff and James Spence. Submitted photo

“It seemed to be basically a Vietnam veteran thing, and I wanted to see the Marines memorial and Vietnam Wall,” Spence said. “My favorite part was the trip to Fort McHenry.”

Armstrong, while not actually in Vietnam, served in Okinawa during the war. He said the experience of seeing the memorials was very sentimental for him.

“I think it was something that every veteran should do and they should get to live the beauty of these monuments,” Armstrong said. “It was very sentimental for me. I was not directly in Vietnam but served during the war and it brought a sense of pride seeing the memorials.”

Additionally, Armstrong said he enjoyed getting to take pictures of the memorials and seeing the Air Force memorial, which he had never seen. While the group did have some trouble getting around because of the other events happening that weekend, he said everything was nice and that it almost felt like he was back in the service.

“The many events we did struck home how much we as veterans actually did for this country,” Armstrong said. “The Korean and WWII statues looked like they were actually looking at you, which was pretty cool. The welcome home from the flight at the airport brought tears to my eyes because it’s what we did not get when we came home from Vietnam.”

One other notable part of the trip for Armstrong was the mail call during Friday night’s dinner, where he and the other veterans received letters from people thanking them for their service, including an entire third grade class that he said sent some to him.

Barlette, like Armstrong, also appreciated the letters and the welcome home.

“It helped us finally have the closure we did not get when we came back from Vietnam,” Barlette said. “I enjoyed seeing the sights. It was very emotional and I enjoyed everything, all of the monuments and the letters from the grade school kids. It was very touching and I got teary eyed. They thanked us for their freedoms and the things they are able to do every day thanks to veterans.”

Kirchhoff heard about the flight from Barb Cessna with the Vets Finding Vets program at the Fenton History Center who coordinates the flight, during his veteran group he participates in there once a month, and his fellow veteran friends mentioned the flight to him a few times. Going on the trip, Kirchhoff said “so many” aspects were his favorite parts, highlighting a few specific ones.

“One of my favorites was the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” Kirchhoff said. “We got to view that and then our specific group had a wreath that they let us lay at the gravesite, which was a special ceremony just for us. It was very impressive and emotional for us.”

One other highlight for Kirchhoff was the unrolling of the flag at Fort McHenry. Kirchhoff said this flag was a replica of the original one flown in battle there and that the group got to stand in two lines and unroll the “impressive and huge” flag.

“I’d seen them do that at sports events on TV and always wondered what it would be like, and now I got to experience that,” Kirchhoff said. “Another favorite part for me was that when we arrived at the airport to get on the flight there were thousands of people there to greet us, and the same thing when we landed. It was an emotional time.”