Doug Calvin found out in March he was chosen to be on Eastern Iowa’s Honor Flight No. 46.
“It was a complete surprise when they called,” Calvin said.
Honor Flight is a non-profit organization that sends veterans to Washington D.C. for a day to see memorials and museums honoring their service, according to Eastern Iowa Honor Flight’s website. Some of the memorials veterans saw that day included the World War II memorial, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Korean and Vietnam War and the Arlington National Cemetery.
Years ago, Calvin signed up to go on the Quad Cities Honor Flight. Then he moved to West Liberty so he signed up with Cedar Rapids Honor Flight.
Making the day even more special was having his son go with him as his guardian.
“I said all along I was not going to go unless he was with me,” Doug added.
Doug left Cedar Rapids at 7:15 a.m. He returned to Cedar Rapids about 11 p.m., he said.
“We did everything except for the Air Force (Memorial) because it was closed for remodeling,” Doug said. “We went to the Pentagon Memorial instead. We were the first Honor Flight that ever went there.”
When Doug was asked how it felt to see all the memorials that day he responded with one word “humbling.”
“I was excited to see all of them,” Doug said. “The one I was the most impressed with was the FDR (memorial). Some of the excerpts of his speeches are engraved in stone and could make a lot of sense in today’s world.”
Doug served in the Navy during the Vietnam conflict from 1965 - 69, he said. He worked in Teletype relay. When he got out of the service, Doug said he was told not to say anything about serving during the Vietnam War. Seeing the airport in Cedar Rapids full of people welcoming the Honor Flight home made Doug tearful, especially when someone told him “thank you,” he said.
Doug encourages other veterans to go on an Honor Flight if they get a chance to.
“They are looking for people either in the WWII, Korean or Vietnam War,” Doug said. “I definitely say sign up. It’s a very unique experience. It’s something you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”