Local
Freedom Honor Flight: Welcome Home
After a group photo at the Marine Corps Memorial, it was back on the bus for the flight home.
Weather delayed the departure from Washington. The flight landed about an hour late.
It didn’t dampen the enthusiasm shown by family, friends, and the community to the veterans as they got off the plane and walked back into the hanger where the trip began that morning.
Music from the Sparta High School band filled the air as the veterans returned.
Signs saying “Welcome Home” were held up along with flags and balloons in red, white, and blue.
Gloria Kubiak of La Crosse summed up spending the day with the Freedom Honor Flight other veterans.
“Oh my God, that was fantastic. Because everybody was so friendly and so caring. Yes, it was fantastic.”
Kubiak was in the Air Nurse Corps. She served in Texas and Spain during her time in the service.
James Ziegler, an Army veteran who spent 18 months as a cook in Germany, went on the trip with his brother.
“Today was a real great day. Lot of stories when we were over in DC, everybody had a different story. It was a fun day.“
Ziegler said he was going to reach out to the father of a woman he met shortly before he went on the trip to try to talk him into going on the flight. The man had health concerns, but Ziegler said, “They take care of you. Don’t matter if it’s a wheelchair or not.”
Summing up the day, he said, “It was a great, great day. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Coverage of the Freedom Honor Flight
Freedom Honor Flight: ‘Others more deserving’
Freedom Honor Flight: Seeing my friend
