By WESLIE STRATTON
Moapa Valley Progress
Two local veterans received an experience of a lifetime earlier this month. World War II veterans, Richard Storick and Max Bunnell, both of Overton, were honored by taking an “Honor Flight” to visit various war memorials in Washington DC, including the WWII Memorial. The trip took place April 17-19.
Twenty-eight Nevada veterans, along with a caretaker or guardian for each, participated in the trip. The trip was funded by the Honor Flight network, a non-profit organization that has been flying veterans to Washington DC to visit memorials built to honor their service to the nation.
Their flight left at 4:00 a.m. on April 17 from McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas. Travelling with the two WWII veterans was also local veteran Joe Perez, whom Storick said was a big help to them on the trip.
Storick said that the initial day was a long day of travel.
“The whole day was getting through the airport and arriving and getting to the hotel there and then we had a big banquet,” Storick said of day one.
On Saturday the group was up at 6 a.m. for breakfast prior to loading onto a bus going from Baltimore to Washington.
“We had a police escort and we didn’t stop at any red lights,” Storick said.
The first stop was at the World Ward II memorial.
“That was fabulous!” Storick said.
Fellow veteran and Overton resident Max Bunnell agreed with Storick saying that the first monument was his favorite.
“That’s because it was between Jefferson and Washington memorials,” Bunnell said, adding that a beautiful reflection pool added to the atmosphere of the memorial.
“It’s been a long time trying to get (the memorial) to happen,” he said. “It’s there and it’s beautiful.”
Bunnell described the monument as fantastic with a wall of stars that represented those lost or dead.
“I’ve been to Lincoln and Washington monuments but I hadn’t seen the rest of them. That was my favorite,” he said.
The group next visited the Vietnam Memorial, followed by the Korean and Air Force memorials and then Arlington Cemetery.
“That was fabulous!” he said. “I just couldn‘t believe how many grave stones. As far as the eye can see.”
Storick said that the group next drove by the Pentagon where they were able to see where the plane struck the building on 9/11, due to the variation of stone color.
“Then we went to the Navy Memorial downtown and that was pretty fabulous too,” he said.
After a long day of sightseeing, the group gathered back at the hotel for another banquet with a color guard to honor the veterans
Storick said that throughout the trip the group was greeted by friendly faces and thanked for their service.
“Everywhere we went people wanted to shake our hands,” he said. “I must have shook 500 hands or more.”
He said that the group was greeted by a color guard and boy scouts at the Baltimore airport.
“There must have been 1,000 people,” he said, adding that it was a stark contrast to the lack of support that vets received when they returned from serving their country in 1946. “It’s sad.”
Bunnell shared Storick’s view on the long postponed showing of gratitude from the public.
“It’s something that’s way overdue for some of us,” he said. “Some of (the vets) went through hell.”
While overdue, Bunnell said he was appreciative of the gratitude shown to the group.
“They kept thanking us and shaking our hands,” he said of the public at each stop that they made.
While he enjoyed the experience Storick said that the trip felt rushed.
“It was too much in one day,” he said.
However overwhelming that single day was, Storick said he was lucky to be able to enjoy the experience with other vets and Bunnell was appreciative of an “outstanding” leader who arranged everything including meals.
