November 1, 2024 – West Bend, WI – Vietnam veteran Jim Heili, 77, of West Bend, Wi, is one of 11 veterans from Washington County on the November 2, 2024, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight.
“I was 20 years old when I was drafted in 1967,” said Heili.
Stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, then Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Heili served in the Army artillery and was eventually stationed in Germany. Reaching the rank of Spec 5 he volunteered for a 14-month tour in Vietnam.
Heili will be traveling with his grandson Jacob Hawley of Port Washington as his guardian, and he is looking forward to seeing the Vietnam Memorial.
Other veterans on the flight include:
- West Bend: Conrad Scheunemann – Army, Vietnam, Robert Spiegel – Army, Vietnam, Russell Zwieg – Army, Vietnam, Michael Kucharik – Air Force, Vietnam
- Slinger: Charles Balestrieri, Navy, Vietnam
- Harford: Thomas Flanagan – Marines, Vietnam, Darrell Jutz – Air Force, Korea, Donald
Lesmeister – Navy, Vietnam, Edward Gehring – Army, Vietnam, Michael Schroeder – Air Force, Vietnam - Stars and Stripes Honor Flight’s 78th mission will take off on Saturday, November 2 when the last Stars and Stripes Honor Flight of 2024 departs for the nation’s capital.
Two Southwest Airlines aircraft will leave Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport at approximately 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. on flight day, bound for Washington Dulles International Airport with 113 local veterans (and their guardians) on board.
On that day, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight will welcome 5 Korean War veterans and 108 veterans of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era, who will finally receive their “welcome home” that is decades overdue.
Veterans taking their Honor Flight on November 2 include a Vietnam Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, members of Army helicopter crews, and an Army nurse.
After the planes land at Dulles Airport on flight day, the veterans and their guardians will board coach buses to tour Washington DC’s WWII Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Air Force Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall, and more.
The day will also include viewing the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
Veterans’ families and friends and all members of the community are encouraged to attend the Homecoming parades at Mitchell Airport that evening. The two planes are scheduled to land at 8:00 pm (alpha) and 9:20 pm (bravo). The Oak Creek High School Band and the South Milwaukee High School Cheer Team will provide spirit for the Homecoming festivities.
Prior to the November 2 flight, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight has flown almost 10,500 local veterans on these trips to Washington DC since 2008 and has honored more than 50 veterans locally who were not able to fly. As an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff and no offices, the organization is proud to share that $.97 of every donated dollar goes directly to flying and honoring veterans.
Honor Flight is a national program with more than 130 hubs from coast to coast. Nationally, hubs in the Honor Flight Network have taken well over 250,000 veterans to see their memorials.
Timeline of activities for the Saturday November 2 Stars and Stripes Honor Flight:
5 a.m. – Veterans and their guardians begin check in at Mitchell Airport’s main concourse
5:50 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. – National Anthem by Vietnam veteran and Brewers’ vocalist Bob Kozlowski
6:30 am – Stars and Stripes Honor Flight “alpha” flight departs for Washington Dulles Airport, water cannon salute on runway (weather permitting)
7:30 am – Stars and Stripes Honor Flight “bravo” flight departs for Dulles Airport, water cannon salute on runway (weather permitting)
9:00 am – 10:00 am (ET) – Flights arrive at Dulles Airport, load buses for DC tour
6:30 pm (ET) – Return to Dulles Airport, load planes for departure back to MKE
8:00 pm (CT, approximate) and 9:20 pm (CT, approximate) – Return flights land at Mitchell Airport, veterans deplane for parade through the airport’s main concourse.
