Blue Ridge Honor Flight Fall 2022, Part I: 'God wanted us to be there'

This is the first part of a three-part series on the Blue Ridge Honor Flight for the Fall of 2022. The flight took veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the war memorials on Oct. 1.

Since 2006 when the Blue Ridge Honor Flight (BlueRidgeHonorFlight.com) taking veterans to Washington, D.C. was first started by longtime area businessman Jeff Miller, a news reporter and a photographer from the Times-News went on the flights. During all that time I had been in sports and had always wanted to experience that trip.

On Saturday, Oct. 1, I finally got the opportunity, and I'm eternally grateful.

It was an incredible experience I'll never forget. It's hard to believe just one day could have produced so many unforgettable memories and stories. I was going to try to fit everything in one article, but that's impossible, so I'm making it a three-part series. Part I focuses on early Saturday morning at the Asheville Airport and speaking with the veterans there. Part II will be when we arrived in Baltimore and Washington and Part III will be the concluding plane ride back to Asheville.

Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Asheville Regional Airport

5:45 a.m.

Veterans arrived at different parking lots to be picked up and taken to the Asheville Regional Airport. I was sent to the Advent Surgical Center parking lot. It was my first flight, and I kept checking and re-checking that I had everything before I left my car. I walked up to the bus to take us to the airport, and right as I was about to get on, I checked my back pocket... it was empty. I had forgotten my cell phone in the car. I rushed back and got it just in time.

6 a.m.

We go to our assigned teams, which were split into red, white, blue and yellow. I was in Team Red and met team leader Jim Miller, Jeff's brother. He's a great guy... very down to earth and hilarious. After getting my badge to get on the plane, I met and talked with my first veteran of many I'd meet that day... Asheville's Lonnie Gilliam, who served from 1961-67 and was in Vietnam for 13 months, two weeks and three days, he said. "It was horrific. No human being should go through something like that. Most veterans like myself don't talk about it much, and I know that's not a healthy way of coping with it. Things have changed now, and there are many programs for veterans with PTSD, like myself." He said he remembered landing in California when he returned from Vietnam in 1968. He said people were spitting on him and throwing beer cans. "This here helps make up for all of that."

6:15 a.m.

I learned from one of the team leaders that just one World War II veteran would be on the flight, which had more than 80 veterans aboard. We were told to line up to get ready to go into the terminal through security, and I got in line. I turned around, and the World War II veteran was there in a wheelchair, Mr. Foster Gooding. He's 96. While walking in the line, I got the honor to speak with him, and he said he began his service in the Army in World War II in 1944. "We were fighting in the Battle of the Bulge at the time. We were actually right on the outskirts. We got very lucky that Germany gave up just before we went in as replacements." He now lives in Seneca, S.C. and said this was his first Blue Ridge Honor Flight. He had four other brothers who served in World War II and passed away. He said he was glad to be a part of the flight but felt bad for the others who never got to experience it. "This is wonderful. I never expected it."

7 a.m.

I've been with the paper 26 years now, and I thought for sure I'd see a lot of people I knew at the terminal. I didn't see anyone until this time. We were in the terminal, eating breakfast served by the Veterans Healing Farm in Hendersonville. As I went to sit on the floor, I saw Henderson County School Board Chairman Blair Craven, who was talking with his good friend, Vietnam veteran Harvey Sankey. I was glad to see a familiar face. "This is my first flight. I just joined the (Blue Ridge Honor Flight) board recently and have been meaning to go on a flight, so I finally got to," Craven said. Sankey, of Mills River, at first was smiling and talking about the upcoming flight, but then he ended up choking back tears. "When I got back from Vietnam, we didn't have a car, and we lived in Philadelphia. I had to take a subway and a bus home. Nobody would look at me. They'd just turn their heads. They didn't give you any recognition at all. When I got to my house, my mother had a sign that said 'Welcome Back.' I have been at this airport several times to welcome back the veterans from these flights. A lot of them were crying. I was crying, too. This is definitely needed to help us out."

7:45 a.m.

Our flight is slightly delayed and we are all redirected to another gate at the other side of the airport. No one complained. Everyone remained happy and the war stories continued. But one thing on everyone's mind was the weather, especially after Hurricane Ian had made its way up through the Carolinas the past few days. A staff member at the airport got on the intercom and said a plane ahead of ours had a malfunction that had to be fixed before takeoff. "Don't worry... your plane is fine," he said. One of the guardians of a veteran was looking on her phone at the weather. "It looks like it may rain some today in Washington, but not much, which is incredible," she said. "It's like God wanted us to be there."

8:45 a.m.

We are loaded onto the plane. I'm scared to death of flying, but I wouldn't miss this for the world. As we are walking through the final tunnel to get on the plane, I'm walking behind a lady and a gentleman by the name of Anthony Sweat, I later found out. I had just heard him mention that he was from Hendersonville, so I knew I needed to speak with him, but I didn't get the opportunity then. I would get the chance when we touched down in Baltimore, and it'd be a conversation I'll remember for my lifetime... that story will be coming in Part II.

8:55 a.m.

I go to my assigned seat, and I end up sitting beside a former pilot, Charles Toler, and another veteran, Paul Heflin. We three became immediate friends, and Toler calmed me down. Take off.

Part II will be in Wednesday's paper and will be on our website, BlueRidgeNow.com, on Tuesday. Part III will appear in Thursday's paper and will be online Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Blue ridge Flight Fall 2022, Part I: 'God wanted us to be there'