Central Valley Honor Flight brings 69 veterans home to Fresno

Cheers rolled through Fresno Yosemite International Airport as 69 veterans returned home after three days in Washington, D.C., closing the 34th Central Valley Honor Flight with a scene that mixed applause, tears, and a very public thank-you. Schoolchildren formed a tunnel for the arriving veterans, turning Wednesday night’s landing into a hometown welcome that was as much about Fresno’s civic identity as it was about ceremony.

The veterans came from 24 hometowns in nine counties and ranged in age from 69 to 100. They had left Fresno Monday morning and spent the trip visiting the WWII Memorial, Navy Memorial, Marine Corps War Memorial at Iwo Jima, Air Force Memorial, National Museum of the U.S. Army, Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Changing of the Guard, the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. Four Central Valley veterans took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a solemn moment that capped the trip before the flight turned back toward California.

Some of the most personal moments came in the air on the way home. Volunteers handed out letters, drawings and notes sent by family members, friends, schoolchildren and strangers in a midair mail call that echoed military life and moved many of the veterans to tears. Army veteran Charles Diffey of Fresno received drawings from neighborhood children who know him as Santa Claus. Marine veteran Leigh Stephens of Fresno read a message from his grandchildren. Another Fresno veteran, Frank Landeros, said the mail brought back memories from his time in Vietnam.

Central Valley Honor Flight says its inaugural flight took place in October 2013, originally to honor local World War II veterans, and the nonprofit now gives priority to World War II, Korean War and Vietnam veterans who served before May 7, 1975. The organization says it has raised more than $4.5 million, funded 27 flights and transported more than 1,800 veterans before this April mission. A later Fresno civic tally put the total at more than 2,200 veterans honored over 12 years. Each trip costs about $1,500 per veteran and is funded entirely by donations from more than 1,000 individuals, businesses and service clubs across the Central Valley.

As an official hub of the Honor Flight Network, the group has built more than a day trip to the capital. It has created a local ritual of recognition that links airports, schools, donors and families, giving many Vietnam veterans the welcome they say they never received when they first came home.