Seventy-five veterans, most of them from Box Elder County, will be taking an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington D.C. next week to visit war memorials and other monuments to military service.
Nucor Steel is sponsoring the Utah Honor Flight trip on Oct. 4-5. The company sponsored similar events in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and after being forced to take a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nucor is thrilled to be able to host a trip for veterans once again, said Randi Mckay, human resources administrator at the company’s Vulcraft facility in Brigham City and a longtime volunteer with the Utah Honor Flight organization.
“They didn’t do any in 2020 because of COVID,” Mckay said. “They did a few in 2021 and we (Nucor) wanted to do one, but it just didn’t work out, so we’re very excited to be doing it again.”
The group of veterans will consist mainly of Box Elder County residents who are family or friends of Nucor employees, but about a third of them were chosen from the Utah Honor Flight waiting list, coming from as far as Idaho, California and southern Utah.
Transportation, meals, lodging, and any other costs for the veterans are all covered by Nucor. The company also sends several employees along on the trips to serve as chaperones, medics, and provide whatever services the guests of honor may need.
Each veteran is accompanied by a guardian — a friend, family member or Utah Honor Flight volunteer. While guardians pay about $1,000 each for the trip, fundraisers including the county fair kickoff concert in August and a cornhole tournament at the fairgrounds earlier this month have raised money to help offset those costs.
At the cornhole tournament, “We had people come to just to see what it’s about, and they ended up buying stuff or just giving donations,” Mckay said. “The people in our community are so amazing.”
The itinerary for the whirlwind tour begins with a stop at Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, Maryland on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday morning, the group will head to Arlington, Virginia to visit the Air Force Memorial, Iwo Jima Marine Memorial and attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
While most of the veterans making the trip served in Korea or Vietnam, Mckay said there will also be three World War II veterans in attendance, and they will have the honor of laying the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“It’s going to be a beautiful moment,” she said.
Then it’s on to Washington for stops at memorials to World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and the Lincoln Memorial.
At least two of the veterans making the trip will be women, who haven’t always received the recognition they deserve at such events, Mckay added.
It’s a lot to pack in to a two-day trip, but volunteers like Mckay, who will be going on her 13th Honor Flight trip as a medic, said it’s well worth the effort.
“It has a huge impact on us,” she said. “When we take these veterans on these flights, we get to see a whole different side of people. We get to spend a couple of days with them and find out a little more about their lives.”
There is no official homecoming event planned in Tremonton due to the late hour of arrival; however, supporters are encouraged to give the group a hearty “welcome home” at Salt Lake International Airport following a flight that is scheduled to land at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct 5.
Mckay said past flights have come home to large groups of enthusiastic greeters bearing signs and cheering — something many veterans have never really had the chance to experience.
“A lot of these people served, then went home and went right back to work,” she said. “They’ve been through some hellacious stuff, but they’re some of the best people. We can never give enough to fill the love and respect they deserve.”