Area veterans touched by Honor Trip to Washington, D.C.

The Holmes-Wayne Community Honor Trip to Washington, D.C. brought together two dozen veterans, most of them Vietnam veterans, who toured the nation’s capital, many of its monuments and more.

Each veteran was accompanied by a guardian, and the group arrived home on Sunday, Sept. 29, where a sea of people waited in the rain for their return, offering them a cheerful and tearful welcome home that most of those Vietnam veterans were not afforded on their initial return from the war.

The Holmes-Wayne Honor Trip is an opportunity for World War II, Korean and Vietnam War veterans to visit the memorials in Washington, D.C. and to honor their service. It is an opportunity for veterans in the community to share, bond and heal.

The three-day bus trip is entirely funded by private donations from individuals and organizations in the community and is coordinated by Holmes-Wayne Electric Cooperative, Shreve American Legion Forest Post 67 and Rolling Thunder Inc., Ohio Chapter 2. In addition, Troy Miller Agency provided free small American flags to those in attendance, which helped create a patriotic welcome home for the travelers as they rolled into Shreve, welcomed by thunderous applause on the rainy evening.

On their arrival the veterans were able to stay dry thanks to the Boy Scouts Troop 71 of Shreve, which came in during the last second and raised tents over the proceeding.

In welcoming home the veterans and guardians, Glenn Miller, Holmes-Wayne Coop president and CEO, said it was an honor and privilege to provide this meaningful trip.

“To all of our veterans, thank you for your service to our grand country,” Miller said.

After Miller thanked the guardians and the EMTs who partnered with the program, he said the event was truly a community effort that takes many hands and hearts to create.

He then turned the microphone over to Shreve Mayor Josiah Martin, who delivered a touching message to the veterans, beginning with his thanks to the Vietnam veterans, whom he said were denied a proper welcome home following the war.

“My children get to grow up in a small town like Shreve knowing what freedom is, because of the price you were willing to pay,” Martin said. “I owe you — we owe you — a debt of gratitude we are never going to be able to repay. I wish that when your tours ended and you came back home, the price that you were asked to pay stopped and ended there, but it didn’t. You carried it with you for many years. For that burden, for what you shouldered and what you were willing to sacrifice then, for the price you paid for my freedom, freedom that my family, my community, my nation gets to enjoy, from one humble man to you, I say thank you.”

Veteran Jon Kinney, who served in the Vietnam War with the Army, said the entire experience was one he won’t ever forget.

“This was something special,” Kinney said. “I needed to go on this trip. I’d seen many of the memorials before, and I really appreciated the 9/11 memorial, but I got to meet so many wonderful people who experienced the same things I experienced and who share the same bond.”

Many of the veterans expressed the same gratitude and that these veterans carry the same scars throughout their lives and being together meant a great deal to them.

It also was an emotional time for the guardians, who got to experience the joy, heartache and gratitude of the veterans uniting.

Guardian Larry Porter said being a part of the experience was more touching than he could have ever imagined.

“What an amazing time,” he said. “The whole thing was special. Hearing some of the stories these veterans went through was emotional. I am honored to be a small part of it.”

The list of attendees, their armed forces group and their guardians were as follows:

The lone World War II veteran to attend was Bob Iams, Navy, with guardian Jeff Burgett.

Iams was chosen to place the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during a ceremony. He said that moment brought him to tears, even now as he recalled the moment.

“It was emotional, and I was so honored to be able to do that,” Iams said.

The following are all veterans of the Vietnam War:

Dennis Blacklock, Air Force, Marsha Blacklock; David Bodle, Army, Terry Sigler; Paul Bowers, Army, Jenny Miller; Sandra Clary, Army, Nona Miller; Tim Dilyard, Air Force, Don Hughes; Victoria Ebner, Marines, Gwen Neal; Paul Frank, Army, Sundee Porter; David Garnes, Army, Terry Martin; Gary Gonter, Army, Larry Porter; Charles Huffman, Navy, Michael Benchoff; Orvalle Johnson, Army, Traci Poulson; Leonard Jorz, Army, Dean Weber; Jon Kinney, Army, Dennis Miller; Charles Lepold, Army, Steve Waltman; Roger Miller, Army, Scott Ervin; David Schlauch, Army, Chassie Cryzter; Danny Stadler, Navy, Hope Blake; Jeff Stair, Navy, Sierra Shaw; Mark Steiner, Army, Gage Martin; Terry Studer, Army, Marlin Wengerd; Ralph Studer, Army, Keith Kerns; Ken Vansickle, Army, Mark Siedel; and Nelson Weirick, Navy, Charles Weirick.

Miller said following the event that seeing the joy, respect and gratitude of the veterans and of the public that showed up to greet them was everything this trip was meant to exemplify when it was first created as a way to say thank you to those veterans who put their lives on the line for their country in the name of freedom.