BOONE COUNTY — It’s called the trip of a lifetime and for more than 140 veterans from Boone County, it’s a chance to get the thank you, some never received for their service.
With cell phones rolling and war stories flowing aboard four buses, 146 veterans have reported for duty at the nation’s capitol
Their mission will be one of the toughest these sailors, soldiers, airman and marines have been given: take everything in and stay awake for roughly 20 hours
“When we were trying to recruit the veterans to go on this flight, 80 percent of them said ‘I don’t want to take someone else’s seat,’” says organizer Don Batt. “And I can understand that, but once they’re here they are fulfilling the trip of a lifetime.”
One of the veterans, Clifford Robinett, will be 96 in three days. He’s waited a lifetime to see the WWII memorial he helped inspire.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” he says. “It makes you speechless to try new worlds to try and describe. It’s almost like being on hallowed ground like Abe Lincoln said at Gettysburg.”
Over a half century after his last patrol in the Pacific, messages etched in stone are as real today as they were 75 years ago.
“There were times of great fear and great danger and you knew it, and anybody who said he wasn’t afraid in certain situations wasn’t true,” says Robinett. “Everybody, even in certain situations, he might put on a real big…but they were afraid. I remember and I’ll never forget.”
Arlington Cemetery has a way of reminding everyone the sacrifice made by so many.
“You have to see it to believe it and to see all the markers is sad,” says Charles Lovin.
Lovin, a Navy sailor, has the chance to honor fellow sailors lost aboard the USS Nevada by laying a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“War is sad,” he says. “It’s sickening. You’re kind of numb, I mean it’s hard to explain I was standing there and I don’t stand as well as I used to but its just numbness. It probably the greatest honor I’ve ever had.”
Each veteran is eager to honor their branch. Marines broke out into song at Iwo Jima, sailors posed for pictures at the Navy memorial and everyone had the Air Force to thank for the view of Washington D.C.
But not everyone has been looking forward to this day. Until now, Vietnam veteran James Lewis had been avoiding it for over 40 years
“I don’t know, they just talked me into it and now that I’m here and everybody has been supporting us I am going to do it,” he says.
Lewis says he’s been reluctant to go on the trip because he didn’t want to dredge up memories, but says it was worth it.
One of the most iconic memorials holds over 58,000 names on it: the Vietnam memorial wall. Robert Eugene Schmidt is one of those names, and one of a handful Boone County veterans are searching for.
“He was my high school best friend,” says Bruce Schuller, Vietnam veteran. “They talked him into re-upping, go back over for three months for an early out. Two weeks they brought him back in a bag.”
With a pencil and paper, a 40 year weight has been lifted and the trip of a lifetime has been fulfilled
“I think it kind of gives you a chill when you really look at it,” says Gordon Cruz, a Korean War veteran. “But, yeah I’m glad I got to see it.”
