But their upcoming mission will be one of honor and remembrance, rather than combat.

The roughly 140 veterans were selected to travel to Washington, D.C., on May 11 during the 18th Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight.

The Honor Flights take veterans, free of charge, to the nation’s capital to see the various war memorials. The next flight will leave Fort Dodge Regional Airport very early in the morning on May 11 and will return late that night. In Washington, the veterans will have a whirlwind tour of various monuments and Arlington National Cemetery.

Most of the veterans embarking on the next Honor Flight served during the Vietnam War era, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, sometimes called simply The Wall, will be a focal point for them.

Duane Vavroch

”I want to go see all the war memorials, especially the The Wall, because I have close friends that lost their lives that I’d like to pay homage to,” said Terry Painton, of Stanhope.

Painton, who served in the Army’s 103rd Combat Engineers from 1965 to 1969, said he’s wanted to get on an Honor Flight for some time.

”It’s been three years in the making,” he said.

He added that he went to Washington many times during his career as a truck driver, but never got to see any of the monuments there.

Air Force veteran Duane Vavroch, of Jewell, said he believes the trip will be a good time, but he also thinks he’ll experience some mixed feelings when he reflects on his military career.

Vavroch became a prisoner of the North Vietnamese near the end of the Vietnam War.

He was a navigator on a B-52 Stratofortress bomber that was part of a bombing campaign the military called Operation Linebacker II. The campaign was intended to force North Vietnam to resume peace talks.

”The night we flew, they delayed us in case there was a peace treaty,” Vavroch said.

His bomber did take off on Dec. 26, 1972. It was hit by three surface to air missiles over Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam. Vavroch ejected from the plane and was captured on the ground.

Navy veteran Steve Vanderheiden, of Carroll, also figures he’ll have some mixed emotions about the trip.

”I don’t know how to feel, but I’ll figure that out,” he said.

”Vietnam veterans kind of had this stigma,” he said. ”The thing that stands out the most is the Vietnam veterans have always had to pat themselves on the back.”

”Vietnam veterans took the rap for everything,” he added. ”But I’m a proud veteran. I don’t care what anyone says.”

Vanderheiden was a boiler technician on the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea from 1969 to 1972. He said he was ”really surprised” to be picked for the Honor Flight.

Robert Paul Boyce, a Marine Corps veteran from Lake City, was surprised to get notified on Saturday that he would be on the Honor Flight.

”I am really excited,” he said.

His service during the early 1960s took him to Okinawa, Japan, and for just a couple of weeks, South Vietnam.

He is one of three members of his family to serve in the Marine Corps. His father, Wallace, served from 1943 to 1946. His son, Robert Paul Boyce Jr., served from 1982 to 1988.

”I’m proud of our family,” he said.

Three brothers from one Manson family will be traveling on the flight together. They are Merrill, Marvin and Tom Heinze.

Oldest brother Merrill Heinze served in the Navy. The other two brothers served in the Army.

”They wouldn’t follow me,” said Merrill Heinze, who was in a Naval Construction Battalion in the early 1960s.

Marvin Heinze was a member of the Army’s 62nd Engineer Battalion from 1964 to 1965.

Tom Heinze was a member of the Army’s 591st Transportation Co. from 1966 to 1967.

”We said in the application we’d like to go together,” Tom Heinze said.

”We’ve heard great things about it,” added Marvin Heinze. ”It’s the best tour you could ever get, I think.”

Pete Oppedahl, who lives in Fort Dodge and Sun City West Arizona in the winters, said Honor Flight organizers Ron Newsum and Mel Schroeder persuaded him to apply for a spot on the flight.

Oppedahl was a member of the 961st Communications Group, an Air Force unit based in the Philippines, from 1961 to 1965. His specialty was encoding messages.

”I saw a lot of guys get temporary duty 90-day orders to Vietnam,” he said. ”I never saw them again and wondered what happened to them.”

”I feel very privileged,” he added. ”I know a lot of guys that were over there. Some of their stories I don’t even want to think about.’

”We all did our part, I guess,” he said.

The veterans gathered at the Webster County fairgrounds Wednesday for a banquet and to get details of the trip.

During the banquet, the Honor Flight organizers received a $2,100 donation from the local chapter of Pheasants Forever.