Vietnam vet takes Honor Flight to Washington, DC

As Americans celebrate the nation’s birthday next week, the High Plains Honor Flight group continues to celebrate the veterans who helped make the United States the country it is today.

The mission is simple: Give veterans an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to see the memorials built in their honor.

“To show appreciation to our veterans, we want to make sure they have a welcome home that many never received,” explains the High Plains Honor Flight website.

Monse Conde of Holyoke was one of 123 veterans who were honored on a High Plains Honor Flight trip — the 24th flight since 2014.

Conde said he was originally scheduled to go on the Honor Flight a couple of years ago, but COVID-19 delayed the trip. The May 2022 group was the first one to go since the pandemic hit.

The 73-year-old Vietnam veteran gathered with others at The Ranch in Loveland, and High Plains Honor Flight had a presentation prepared for the veterans and their families.

Close to 200 motorcyclists escorted the veterans to the airport while others gathered on overpasses along the route to cheer them on.

The veterans were accompanied by “guardians” who guided them throughout the D.C. trip. “The volunteers just overwhelmed me,” said Conde, noting that they paid for their own trip and donated their time to be there with the veterans.

The two-day trip May 15-16 was jam-packed with sights to see, fancy meals to eat and stories to be shared.

Conde was able to connect with others who served in Vietnam, as well as veterans of other wars. “We had a lot of similarities,” he said. “It was good to talk to people.”

The group went to places like the World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Lincoln Memorial. Those places can bring about a wide range of emotions in and of themselves, but when Conde saw a veteran on a bench just sobbing, it was a very touching experience.

In January 1970, Conde received a draft notice the same day that he and wife Olga’s first child, Angela, was born. He left for basic training with the Army two weeks later.

He arrived in Vietnam on Aug. 2, 1970, and served there 13 months and four days.

Conde was in a preventative medicine unit, and his main tasks were to inspect mess halls and ships and to test rats for plague in order to keep the soldiers healthy.

He’s currently involved in the Berthoud Veterans of Foreign Wars post that was named for his relative, Gabriel Conde, who was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan.

Conde’s also excited to maintain contact with veterans from the High Plains Honor Flight, and a reunion picnic is already scheduled for July.

The local veteran is urging others to apply for the Honor Flight. The organization is currently accepting applications for those who served in the United States military with an honorable discharge in World War II, Korea or Vietnam as well as Purple Heart recipients from any era.

There are also forms to apply to be a guardian on an Honor Flight, and there are ways to get involved through volunteering and donations.

For more information on High Plains Honor Flight, visit highplainshonorflight.org.