Honor Flight KC veterans home safe Friday after canceled flight left them temporarily stranded
Oct. 21—U.S. Army combat veteran Ernie Horinouchi was a "mortar man" during the Korean War. He remembers launching lethal explosives at the enemy, then moving his position to keep from being tracked.
He lost a good friend during the war, and at 92, he still remembers the man from West Virginia, a place that seemed a world away from Horinouchi's family home in Hawaii.
Now living in Bakersfield, Horinouchi was one of scores of military veterans who landed Friday afternoon at Meadows Field Airport after returning from an Honor Flight Kern County tour to the nation's capital.
Hundreds were there to greet them.
On Thursday, their flight out of Baltimore had been unexpectedly canceled, yet organizers somehow managed to line up dinner, transportation and lodging for the more than 180 veterans, guardians and Honor Flight staff.
But Horinouchi wasn't complaining.
"It was alright," the Army vet said of the delay and the inconvenience that resulted.
"We got to know each other better," he said of himself and the other veterans.
The flight home was initially delayed and then canceled Thursday after airline personnel apparently neglected to recharge the airliner's batteries in preparation for the flight.
Joseph Soto was there with his wife, Stacy, holding up a banner to welcome home the vets.
Soto said remembering and honoring those who served in uniform is right and proper. It's a way to remind us, he said, of the sacrifices they've made for the freedom we enjoy.
"We're all neighbors," he said, "and we're here to help each other."
U.S. Air Force veteran Al Medina, 80, got a big hug from his daughter, Deanna Carreras, as he walked into the airport terminal on Friday.
After the whirlwind trip to the nation's capital to see several war memorials and other sights — all courtesy of Honor Flight Kern County — Medina wasn't about to complain about the inconvenience.
"All that matters is we got home," he said. "We got it done."
Retired U.S. Army Nurse Corps Capt. Pauline Erickson was thrilled to see the hundreds of locals who came to Meadows Field to welcome home the veterans.
Their delay left her a bit exhausted, but her smile was impossible to miss.
Erickson served from 1971 to 1974, with three more years in the active reserves. She was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco, South Korea and Fort Carson, Colo.
Having to find lodging for 180 people was "a logistics nightmare," Erickson said.
Honor Flight Kern County founder Lili Marsh said in a Facebook comment that it was quite "a challenge to find 97 rooms and 50 Ubers" to accommodate the small army of vets for an extra night.
It took two hotels, Erickson said.
But nothing could take away from the emotional impact of seeing the Vietnam wall and other memorials, she said.
"For me, seeing the Vietnam nurses memorial was so moving," she said.
The face on one of the nurses in the sculpture, she said, was heart-wrenching.
"To see the agony on her face because she couldn't save the soldier in her arms."
Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.
