Old Glory Honor Flight is set to depart on its 76th mission today, and a woman who took the trip over a year ago with her father is telling her story about closure.
Lori Hagen served as a guardian in May 2024 when she took the trip with her Vietnam veteran father.
Like many veterans of the time, her father isn’t much into talking about his experience, so the trip was quite emotional for both of them.
“It was very powerful to really see him get the opportunity to kind of revisit some of those memories and bond with fellow veterans,” she recalled.
As was the case with Scott Schefe and his father, whom we reported on over the weekend, the group visiting the Vietnam War Memorial wall is when things began to change.
“That’s kind of when he opened up,” she explained. “I feel a little more about his experiences that he had, and looking for certain people on the wall.”
Lori says the most important part of that experience is the fact that he was with other Vietnam veterans who were going through the same emotional journey.
“I feel like that helped him. He actually used the word ‘closure’,” she revealed.
Lori was quite emotional thinking back over the trip, admitting that even over a year after the experience, it was a lot for her to handle.
That being said, Lori wouldn’t trade it for anything and encourages anyone on the fence about signing up to take the trip as a veteran or as a guardian to do so.
“If there is any way you have an opportunity, whether it is to go or to financially support this mission, it is a must,” Lori pleaded. “You will change a veteran’s life.”
You can still support the 76th Old Glory Honor Flight mission today by going out to the Appleton International Airport for the Welcome Home Celebration Parade.
The plane is anticipated to land at around 9:15 p.m.
For more information on Old Glory Honor Flight and how you can sign up to be a guardian, visit OldGloryHonorFlight.org.
