On May 6, Blairsville resident Lanny Reich joined 26 other Georgia veterans on an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. The organization serves as a nonprofit that allows veterans to travel for free to the national memorials of their respective wars; Reich, for his part, served in Vietnam.
Fresh out of high school, Reich signed up for military service and joined the United States Army in 1970. At the height of the Vietnam War, Reich felt it was an “obligation to fight for people who could not (fight) for themselves.”
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Initially assigned to infantry, Reich spent several months on the front lines before being relocated to Chu Lai to serve as a chaplain’s assistant.
“Believe it or not, that was the most boring thing in the war. I mean, there was just no activity except on Sundays, so I was assigned to a combat aviation group,” Reich explained.
Though he joined the First Air Cavalry as a “patient protector” – someone to man weaponry while the medical staff tended to patients – it was during this time that he learned triage and other lifesaving skills.
Many of Reich’s duties depended on what was necessary at the time. A “hot” landing zone at a location where the enemy was actively firing may have required more defense, but elsewhere, Reich helped where he could by administering morphine and applying bandages. This particular role marked the last chapter of his military service.
Because of his service, Reich was eligible to sign up for an Honor Flight these many years later, and following his application, he was approved and notified after “just a couple months.” Like all selected veterans, Reich had the choice of embarking on the spring or fall flight.
Every Honor Flight participant receives a “guard,” or someone to accompany them throughout their trip. If they don’t have a person in mind or anyone who is able to join them, then the Honor Flight Network will provide the veteran with a guard. The one rule? No spouses: “It’s not a vacation.”
Reich’s firstborn son, Christopher, went with him to the Capitol. Though Christopher has not served, he has always enjoyed a close relationship and fostered an interest in his father’s military history. He and Reich were instructed to travel to American Legion Post #77 in Conyers prior to catching their flight to D.C.
“We went down the night before, got up at 4:30 (a.m.) and met at the American Legion,” recalled Reich, who was then “blown away” by the escort for his convoy of veterans. Local law enforcement rode beside them with lights and sirens, totaling about five patrol cars and two motorcycles.
“I imagine the people that saw that wondered who in the world (was traveling),” Reich laughed, though he recognizes that such a response made him feel “special.” “They cared enough to show us that kind of appreciation.”
That said, the reception didn’t end once they reached Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Welcomers waited at Atlanta and Washington for the veterans to arrive, and when they did, they were met with cheers and applause from other passengers and even airport staff.
Reich especially commends the organization and planning of the Honor Flight Network, but something in particular stuck out to him as a way of keeping all the veterans together and moving efficiently through the system.
“Every veteran had a wheelchair,” Reich said, describing the mandatory rule he found shocking at first. “It’s part of that well thought-out process that Honor Flight does. That’s what gets you through the airport all together, all at one time – gets you through TSA and onto the airplane.”
The Honor Flight tour includes stops at the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the United States Air Force Memorial, the United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial), the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Women’s Memorial and the Washington Monument.
When Reich arrived, he was looking for several names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Four of them were brothers-in-arms he served with, but one was the brother of a friend he graduated high school with. Upon finding his name, he took a photo and sent it to her, describing the experience as undeniably emotional.
“It was extremely reflective,” Reich said. “At each site, there was something for us to understand and just think about.”
As a retired Baptist minister, Reich felt there was certainly something spiritual about the trip and described it as “amazing.” He’s not ashamed to say he shed a few tears throughout the course of his Honor Flight experience, as did many of his fellows.
“I had to wipe my eyes several times,” Reich admitted quietly, voice shaking. He calls his memories of Vietnam “extremely fresh,” regardless of how many years may pass.
Along with the memorials, that feeling was compounded during the airport’s mail call, another special aspect of the Honor Flight that allows the veterans to receive letters from family, friends and even strangers who want to thank them for their service.
The bond they all shared, too, was unforgettable to Reich. Nearly all of the veterans who joined him on his Honor Flight were from the Vietnam era, but two participated in World War II. Although they’d never met, the thing that united every one of them was their service to their country, cementing them all as America’s heroes.
“It was like we had just seen each other the week before,” said Reich. “We knew what the other one had done and seen and been through.”
For more information on the program, visit https://honorflightatlanta.org/.
