Honor Flight of West Central Florida's Mission 58 took place on September 15, 2026. It was an historic and deeply emotional day for many veterans, including my dad, Charles (Chuck) Roth Jr. My dad is a Marine and Vietnam War Veteran. He served in the First Marine Division in Vietnam from July 1968 – July 1969. He was in ROTC in college and on active duty from 1962–1974, when he left as a Captain.
Daddy asked me if I would go with him on this mission as his guardian. I said that I would be honored.
Guardians
Guardians must be physically healthy and able to assist Veterans into or out of wheelchairs, go up and down stairs, and push a wheelchair up a slight incline, such as a plane jetway, and, while on the National Mall, for distances of up to a half mile. They make a donation of $500 for the privilege of escorting a Veteran and are required to attend a mandatory orientation session.
Kristen Small, Office Manager of Military Family Support, notified me that they would be paying my guardian’s donation. When I met her at her office in Freedom Plaza, she was very informative and friendly. She even gave us some SWAG.
Orientation
We attended orientation on the Sunday before the flight. We got a shirt, hat, and backpack. He also got a nice blanket. It was great that we could identify people by their shirts. Grey for Vets, Blue for Guardians, Red for Flight Team, White for awesome helpers. We were also entertained by singing, the Santa Drill Team, and a PowerPoint showing the agenda, past pictures, and our rules. I was very impressed by the organization of everything from greeting to sign-in, to place cards, to the presentation. This team is quite remarkable.
About this Mission
Mission 58 marked a monumental organizational milestone: it carried the 4,000th veteran flown by the West Central Florida hub since its founding in 2010.
- The Departure: A chartered aircraft carrying 75 veterans spanning multiple branches of service departed early Tuesday morning from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (an airfield with its own historic roots as a WWII training base).
- Washington, D.C. Tour: The veterans spent a full, action-packed day touring the nation's capital. Their itinerary included visits to the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Air Force Memorial, and a solemn visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
- The Participants: The group included veterans from various conflicts, notably a strong contingent of Vietnam War veterans for whom the trip often provides long-overdue closure, camaraderie, and recognition.
The Welcome Home Celebration
Upon returning to St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport that same evening around 8:00 PM, the veterans were met with an overwhelming display of gratitude. More than 1,000 supporters packed the airport terminal, waving American flags, wearing red, white, and blue, and cheering to give them a classic, emotional "welcome home" reception.
This reception was quite overwhelming. Since my dad was in a wheelchair, I tried to video this event, hold our backpacks, and push him all at the same time. A young ROTC cadet saw my apparent distress and jumped in to push my dad. He was a pro because he had been at the return home celebration five times.
There were so many people shaking my dad’s hands. They gave him coins, pens, cards, and even a teddy bear. There were military people from 15 to 93 years old wearing uniforms, beauty queens, professional pin-up girls, Rough Riders, politicians, Motorcycle groups, Boy Scout troops, Girl Scout troops, VFW, DAR ladies, Rosie the Riveter ladies, bands, a bagpipe player, and families holding flags and signs. The signs said, “Welcome Home”, “Thank you for your service.” There was even a Santa Claus drill team. My dad especially loved Mrs. Claus because she kissed him and talked to him for a while. Yes, he even saw my mom too. He gave her everything that was in his lap, and we kept going.
They were clapping, shaking his hands, kissing, and hugging him, Marines saying, “Semper Fi”. There were many Honor Flight Ambassadors who were veterans and who had flown on previous flights. Everyone was wearing Red, White, and Blue or a uniform of some kind. My dad even saw people who came from Freedom Plaza (where he lives).
The Best Part
During the celebration, I looked at my dad engaging with the people who came out to honor him. Daddy had tears in his eyes. At first, I thought he needed some eye drops because Daddy is a Marine and they don’t cry. Then, I realized I was quite emotional too because of people saying to him, “Welcome Home” and “Thank you for your Service”. After Vietnam, the service members never got a celebration when they came home. Being honored at this celebration by over 1000 people is awesome in the best sense of that word. My dad and I were so awed that we both had tears in our eyes. This, to me, was the best part of the entire day, and I thank all those people who came to the airport in Clearwater from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 pm on a Tuesday. Thank you.
HFWCF
Honor Flight® of West Central Florida, Inc. (HFWCF) was established as a regional hub of the Honor Flight Network in October 2010. They are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in St. Petersburg, FL. Their mission is to honor America’s Veterans by providing them with a free trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials that recognize their service and sacrifices. Priority is given to World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War Veterans, as well as to Veterans who are terminally ill. Each one-day journey departs from the St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport (PIE).
This team was 100% made up of volunteers. They were amazingly organized, timely, and friendly. It was obvious that they had done this many, many times. We got emails before the flight telling us directions, agendas, and other details, but I could not imagine this experience ahead of time. Everything from orientation, airport check-in, buses, food and snacks, monuments, to the welcome home celebration was for the Veterans. They were treated like Royalty from 3:45 am until 9:00 pm. Yes, and we also had to drive 1 hour to and from the airport. Thank goodness for the Freedom Plaza Shuttle bus and the drivers.
After the Flight
We are both exhausted from this whirlwind trip. I did go to work the next morning while my dad slept in until 1 pm. I took a short nap before dinner.
What Daddy liked the most from the Honor Flight DC trip was the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. Since I lived in the DC area for 25 years and downtown DC for 4 years, I had seen all of the monuments each time we had visitors (often). I was blown away by the welcome home celebration and the tears in our eyes.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this trip. It was more than I could have ever imagined. I’m so glad that my dad got the welcome home that he never got after Vietnam and the thanks that he didn’t get after leaving the military. This was indeed an experience of a lifetime. I am so grateful that Daddy was chosen to go on this trip with such a wonderful organization.
Conclusion
If you have read this far, you probably noticed this is not my typical blog style. So, I will tie this narrative about the honor flight to leadership. There were many different types of leaders on or involved with the honor flights. Here are some of the types of leaders who were on the flight.
- Flight crew
- Logistics Volunteers
- Organizers of homecoming
- Veterans
- Guardians
There were formal and informal leaders. The formal leaders led the people on the buses (I called them the bus bosses). They were responsible for letting us know where to go and what to do. People who jumped in to help others became informal leaders. There were many informal leaders
Are you familiar with honor flights or great leadership? Please let me know your story.
#militaryleadership #volunteer #honorflight
