Local veteran takes memorable Honor Flight journey

John Bryant took the trip of a lifetime to Washington, D.C. this March, thanks to Honor Flight Columbus.

“My wife passed away last March, and Matt Miller from the funeral home asked me if I’d ever gone on the flight,” Bryant said. “I didn’t think I was eligible because I didn’t go to Vietnam, but I was. All I had to do was get my application, fill it out and send it in.”

Bryant was an E-5 sergeant in the U.S. Army, serving from 1967-69. Honor Flight applicants are America’s senior veterans, men and women age 65 and over. Top priority is given to World War II, Korea and terminally ill veterans. Each veteran who goes on this free trip is paired with a trained volunteer guardian to help them on the one-day trip to see the memorials in Washington, D.C.

“It was a great trip, one of the best I’ve ever taken,” Bryant said. “I’d been there before but learned a lot more.”

He was very impressed with his guardian.

“I have COPD and had to use a wheelchair,” Bryant said. “He pushed me everywhere and told me my money was no good that day. The Blue Star Mothers help too by paying for a hotel for us the night before we leave."

Bryant said the trip started at 5:30 a.m. at the airport in Columbus, and after their flight, they were loaded onto three tour buses.

“Arlington Cemetery was one of my favorite stops,” he said. “There are 400,000 buried there, and there were 30 burials scheduled the day we were there.”

The welcome home was just as amazing as the trip.

“It took my breath away,” Bryant said. “There had to have been 1,500-2,000 people there at the airport. There were even kids with signs thanking us for our service.”

He recommends the trip for other veterans and encourages them to not let health issues hold them back from going.

“They give a flag to the oldest veteran, and it was a 100-year-old Navy nurse,” Bryant said. “One guy had no legs, and there were guys that could hardly walk. They take care of you beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

For more information on Honor Flight Columbus, visit www.honorflightcmh.org/ or call the veterans service office at 740-622-2313.