Memorial Day at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., Monday, May 30, 2022. Honor Flight of Southern Colorado will send send an all-female group of veterans to Washington, D.C., for the firs time. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Tribune News Service) — For the first time, Honor Flight of Southern Colorado is sending an all-female group of veterans to Washington, D.C., to recognize their service.
“The honor flight is to remember those who when they came home were forgotten,” said Cindy Anderson, a participating Army veteran.
World War II, Korean and Vietnam-era veterans visit the nation’s war memorials on the trips and receive a large honorary reception when they return. The local chapter is on its 16th honor flight.
The Colorado Springs chapter of the nonprofit has found in the past women were hesitant to sign up for the free trips because they didn’t serve in combat roles and that helped spark the idea for an event set aside to recognize their efforts, said Barbara Harris, a board member with the group.
“Maybe they weren’t in battle but they were very, very important for us,” she said.
The travelers include women who were among the first to serve in certain roles, such as drill sergeant and missileer, and helped break down previous segregation. The military didn’t fully lift the ban on women in combat roles until 2013.
Anderson trained men and women together as one of the early female drill sergeants, she said.
“It was the higher echelons that had trouble accepting that women can do this,” she said. Some of the women she trained went on to serve for 25 to 30 years.
The idea for a trip to honor women has been well received and once word was out, filled up rather quickly with 29 veterans, said Harris. Other female veterans are traveling as volunteers to assist.
“It is an amazing, amazing tribute to our veterans,” she said.
Harris first got involved in Honor Flight work because she saw how her husband became much more open and outwardly proud about his Korean war service after going on a trip. Previously, he wouldn’t talk much about it or tell people he had served.
Since then she has been on numerous trips to help elderly veterans navigate the memorials and events. She also worked to revitalize the local chapter in 2019 when it was on the edge of dissolving.
“It makes you proud to be an American to see people recognize these men and women and take the time to go up and thank them,” she said.
The local homecomings are a major part of the experience for veterans, especially for those who served during Vietnam. In some cases the returning veterans received a cold reception and in some cases had to take their uniforms off to walk through airports.
“We want them to have a homecoming that maybe they never got,” she said.
Hundreds of people attended the most recent homecoming last April.
The public is welcome to attend the Welcome Home Event on Saturday at the Sierra High School Gym. The event will feature an all-women’s color guard, military band and special guest speaker. The organizers ask that the public arrive no later than 7:15 p.m. for a tentative 7:30 p.m. start. Live updates about the event will be posted at facebook.com/HonorFlightSOCO/
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