WASHINGTON — As Jerry Ramsdell got off the plane at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport last week, there was a surprise waiting for him: a cheering crowd who thanked him for his service in the military.
Ramsdell is a 101-year-old who served in the U.S. military in World War II, over 80 years ago. Ramsdell was among the group of 46 Central Texas veterans from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War who were on the most-recent Honor Flight Austin journey to our nation’s capital last weekend.
It was both a very public journey with cheers and “Thank you’s for your service” just about everywhere they went, as well as a personal journey for the Honor Flight veterans who had time to reflect on their own memories about their military service during wartime.
At the World War II Memorial, it was time for photographs and to hear a lecture about America in the early 1940’s, when 16 million men and women – 12.5% of the U.S. population – served in uniform. Today, less than 1% of U.S. citizens serve in the military.
At the Vietnam War Memorial, there were no lectures; just conversations in hushed tones, or outright silence.
Paul Judkins looked for the names of two fellow servicemen inscribed in the memorial who died while piloting their large C-130 transport plane. Judkins had flown the same kind of plane in Vietnam.
“I’m not like one those who said, ‘Oh, I was lucky and didn’t have to go to Vietnam,’” Judkins said. “I’m glad to have served my country. That’s what I was trained for. And it was exciting at times but always saddening, and you realized how serious it was when you saw the wounded and dead, and I did.”
Honor Flight Austin offers our local veterans a way to say “Thank you for your service” by bringing them to the nation’s capital to see the war memorials.
“We get bad news if we watch the news every day and I do,” Judkins said. “All of a sudden, you start thinking ‘Oh, they’re tearing up America.’ The Honor Flight experience makes me say that America is still here and still strong, and I love it.”