Veterans get a hero’s welcome

Storms in the flight path delayed the departure of the Allegiant Air aircraft from Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The plane opened its door at Central Nebraska Regional Airport at 8:05 p.m., more than two hours after its scheduled arrival.

The veterans, though, still got their hero’s welcome. The Northwest High School band played military tunes and loads of people holding flags lined the pathway for the conquering heroes. Among the people holding flags were the Patriot Guard Riders, Grand Island Senior High ROTC members and the Civil Air Patrol.

The plane carried 158 people, 81 of them veterans. The others were escorts and staff members.

“Two and a half hours late, and this community still pulls together to give these veterans the homecoming they should have had” 40 or 50 years ago, said Hall County Supervisor Gary Quandt. “We’ve got a community to be proud of. We’ve got a community that’s proud of our veterans.”

The Northwest band would have been a little bigger if the plane had arrived earlier, said Northwest Band Director Shawn Pfanstiel. But the group had to let some band members go because of other commitments.

The Hero Flight gave Ed Bauer of Doniphan his first trip to the Washington area. Bauer, 74, served in the Air Force from 1962 to 1966.

For Bauer, the best part occurred Wednesday night, when the group visited the House of Representatives chamber, where the president gives the State of the Union address. The Nebraskans were welcomed by Sen. Deb Fischer and Rep. Adrian Smith. “We were told that this was the first group that has ever been invited into there,” Bauer said. “We were special.”

George Cox was one of the people who got to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. It “was something that I’ll never forget. It was really an experience,” said the 70-year-old Grand Island man.

Cox, who was in the Army from 1966 to 1970, also had a culinary highlight. He had “the best barbecued chicken sandwiches you could shake a stick at two days in a row.”

Brad and Pat Rowley of Grand Island were extremely pleased with the trip.

It was “just amazing,” Pat Rowley said. “They treated us like kings and queens.”

Every aspect of the trip was incredible, she said. “The food was good. Everything we saw was good. The bus driver was great. Just everything. It was just wonderful.”

“They really spoiled us,” agreed Brad Rowley. Everybody was great “from the time we got there.” He enjoyed having school kids on field trips come up to the veterans to thank them for their service.

The Rowleys, both 62, met when they were in the Army from 1974 to 1977. They want to thank everyone who supported the trip.

“It was wonderful,” Robert Fuelberth of Central City said of the experience. It was “a lot different than it was 50 years ago,” he said, referring to coming home from Vietnam.

Fuelberth, 75, was in the Army in 1968 and 1969. That service included a year in Vietnam.

His wife, LaNell, accompanied him on the flight. She enjoyed “being there with him. He had never been welcomed home like that before.”

The Fuelberths, who have been married 53 years, were greeted at the airport by their daughter, Mindy Brown, who held a sign that read “Welcome home.”

The journey also left Virgil Benson in a good mood. “I think it’s one of the best trips I ever took in my whole life,” said the 83-year-old Grand Island resident.

Benson was in the Army from 1953 to ‘55. He liked the fact that organizers kept them busy, “but we saw everything.” Not only that, they fed the group well, they stayed at a good hotel and Benson “met many new friends.”

He also enjoyed having his picture taken with Smith. Benson’s wife, Carolyn, taught the then-future-congressman Sunday School when he was a youngster in Gering.

The veterans went to “a lot of places that we never, ever would have gotten to if we hadn’t been on this trip,” said Jim Price of Doniphan. Price, 70, served in the Army from 1966 to 1970.

Price would like to see everyone experience such a trip. “We’ve got to really thank the committee for pulling this together,” he said. Veterans Service Officer Don Shuda and “the whole group that went with us” did a fabulous job, he said. “It was very well-organized, and it went very well.”