Honor flight "unbelievable" for Clarion vets

The first Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight left Fort Dodge Regional Airport on May 1, 2010. Since that time, more than 2,000 veterans from 53 counties have gone to see their memorials in Washington, D.C.

About 145 veterans were aboard the 16th Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight on May 12, including five from Wright County: Michel Thomason, Goldfield; Ron Streitilmier, Eagle Grove; Salvador Calderon, Eagle Grove; and Jim Sweet and Gerald Goebel, both from Clarion.

Both Sweet and Goebel remember negative responses to their service when they came back from Vietnam.

“People—they didn’t really want to talk to you. They didn’t care nothing about you,” Sweet said. “We were just doing what we were sent to do.”

“They could pick you out, even if you had civilian clothing,” Goebel said. “It was a difficult time.”

But both also said that attitude has changed.

“We’ve been involved in so many different conflicts—I think people just really changed their minds about things,” Sweet said. “It takes a while, sometimes.”

Sweet, Goebel, and the other veterans got the thanks they deserved when they arrived in Washington D.C. and when they touched back down in Fort Dodge, where crowds waited to welcome them. For both, it was an "unbelievable" experience.

 

For the full story, see the May 31 edition of the Monitor.

Wright County Monitor

P.O. Box 153
Clarion, IA 50525
Phone: 515-532-2871
Email: news@wrightcountymonitor.com

Mid-America Publishing

This newspaper is part of the Mid-America Publishing Family. Please visit www.midampublishing.com for more information.