War veterans from Las Vegas Valley get warm welcome home from D.C. visit

Amid the clapping, cheering, hand shaking and flag waving, some tears were shed Sunday afternoon at McCarran International Airport as 25 World War II and four Korean War veterans were given a warm welcome on their return home from a weekend trip to Washington, D.C.

Tears were shed in the nation’s capital, too, as the veterans for the first time saw the monuments and memorials that stand in their honor.

“I can’t put it into words,” said Gary Delaney, 75, of Las Vegas, who visited Washington for the first time with his father-in-law, Robert Lake, a World War II and Korean War veteran. “It was unbelievable … emotional.”

Through Honor Flight Southern Nevada, a nonprofit organization, the veterans visited the World War II, Iwo Jima, Korean, Vietnam, Women’s and other war memorials, and also had the opportunity to lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery. The organization has helped 245 veterans to date, with flights funded completely by community donations.

“When you see a veteran reach out his hand and touch a piece of the wall, where it depicts a part of the battle that he’s served in, and you see tears in his eyes, that’s all you need to know that what you’re doing is working,” said Belinda Morse, executive director for Honor Flight Southern Nevada.

As the World War II generation continues to age, each flight becomes more significant to the organization, she said.

“Their memorial wasn’t even built until (2004), when many were already in their 80s and too old,” Morse said. “That’s our mission — to get them to see their memorial.”

The group’s mission is also to give the veterans a proper welcome when they arrive in the nation’s capital and when they come back home.

“Our goal is to show them that what they did mattered and what they did was important, and not forgotten,” Morse said.

On Sunday, between 300 and 400 people, including several Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, lined up on the second level of McCarran’s Terminal 1, holding American flags and colorful welcome home signs, to show their appreciation.

“It was like this in Baltimore when we landed,” Delaney said. “The love that is being shown to these guys is just unbelievable.”

Asked how he was doing Sunday afternoon, 90-year-old Whitney Carter, a World War II veteran from Kingman, Arizona, said with a smile and a chuckle that he was doing “better than most at this time.”

Carter said the visit to Washington was “absolutely wonderful,” and that it was “very touching” to be given the opportunity to see the World War II memorial. Seeing the Lincoln Memorial was a favorite moment for him.

“It’s too bad we don’t have more like him,” he said.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.