BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
Honor Flight 52 returned home to Meadows Field last night, and it was quite the scene. The veterans are home and resting this morning. Mel Corren and Norma Lamasus are two 100-year-old veterans leading the way through a crowd of supporters last night at the airport, carrying signs, American flags, and lots of hugs. Keep in mind, it's 59 hours from the time they leave, go to Washington,n DC, and return to Bakersfield. Now, earlier in the day, they visited our nation's capital despite the shutdown and were greeted by not one but two Congressmen, David Valadao and Vince Fong, who took them inside the hallowed halls to talk about their service and the shutdown.
The final day began with an assist from the US Capitol Police Department, shuttling our veterans through DC rush hour traffic to the US Capitol, a place currently in gridlock. The shutdown has visitor traffic coming through one checkpoint, so Congressman David Valadao was outside to greet them. It took more than an hour to get the group through security and into the House chambers, where Congressman Vince Fong was waiting for us. Cameras were not allowed inside, but the two representatives spent more than 1 hour answering questions and talking about the history of the building with those whose sacrifice made it all possible, shutdown -- or no shutdown.
"Nothing is going to stop us from rolling out the red carpet for our veterans," said Congressman Fong, "the fact that Kern County Honor Flight is here, um, there's no better way to spend, uh, you know, a morning in Washington D.C. than to spend time and listen to the stories of these veterans."
Honor Flight then gathered in the Capitol rotunda for photos and the chance to chat with these two legislators.
"Hey, thanks for your service.-- I appreciate you -- being here."
Congressman David Valadao told me that he welcomes the opportunity to hear their thoughts, good or bad.
"This is one of the, the coolest opportunities we get to do, when one of the honor flights come to town, show them the House floor, spend time with them, thank them all for their service, uh, tell them a little bit about what we do and take a lot of questions from people who served our country, and, it's a fun time," said Valadao.
Outside the Capitol, while reporters lined up waiting for the latest update on the shutdown, the veterans were surrounded by kids who appreciated their service. Before heading to the airport, there was one final stop at the US Navy Memorial downtown. A tribute that includes water from all seven seas and the Great Lakes. Ken Horton, a Navy veteran during Vietnam, was able to locate the Midway Atoll in this naval plaza, a place he was stationed for more than a year.
"1969,1970, for a year and one day," said Horton, "no TV, no radio, no communications. You get mail twice a week. What do you think of this? Oh, this is awesome. This is great."
And preparations are already underway, as you can imagine, for Honor Flight number 53 that is scheduled to take place in the spring of 2026. I'd like to thank all of the Honor Flight people for allowing me to come on this trip, this journey with them, and share some of their stories.
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