The airport was buzzing with thousands of conversations. Some students were standing on their toes to peer above the crowd. Others kept checking their phones, anxiously waiting for the time to come. A man wearing neon yellow appeared before the students and instantly grabbed their attention. Just as the crowd began to calm down, supervisor Mike Cozzi screamed, “Glenbrook North, our heroes have touched down!” Waving red, white and blue flags, the airport erupted with “U-S-A!” chants.
The veterans touched down at Midway Airport on Oct. 30. Seven bus loads of students caravanned to the airport to welcome home 88 World War II veterans who had participated in Honor Flight.
Honor Flight is a non-profit organization that sends World War II veterans to Washington, D.C. at no charge to the veterans. This program allows them to have a ceremony of remembrance at the World War II memorial. For this specific Honor Flight, the veterans knew the basic agenda for the day going into it, but they did not know how their day would end.
Shirley Given, World War II veteran, was a member aboard the Oct. 30 flight. She said that she was expecting to be greeted by her family and then go home, but she quickly learned differently. When the veterans got off the plane, there were thousands of people in the airport to welcome them home.
Given, a Northbrook resident, was shocked to see all the people when she got off the flight because she said she never imagined the amount of people that would be there.
“[Seeing all the people] was a wonderful way to finish the day,” said Given. “I thought that was really thrilling to see them.”
Honor Flight volunteer David Marks said that the point of the program is to recognize World War II heroes because they were not recognized 60 years ago and there is little time left to recognize them.
According to Honor Flight volunteer Alan Garfield, Honor Flight is a program that honors the veterans with the celebration and respect that they never received. He said it is about making them feel important again.
“[The veterans] came home and went to work, raised families and they never got parades,” said Garfield. “They never got ‘thank you’s.’”
Michael Tarjan, assistant principal of student activities, got the school involved with Honor Flight. He said that he got a call from Townstone Financial, a mortgage loan company, suggesting that GBN should get involved.
Tarjan said it took around two weeks to organize, and he “never expected a big turnout.”
“[I would have been] happy if we filled two buses,” said Tarjan. “If we took 50 to 100 kids down [to Midway], I would’ve been happy.”
He said he was pleasantly shocked that around 300 students and teachers boarded the buses that ventured to Midway airport.
“I took away a big sense of pride in our school and community,” Tarjan said.
Junior Emma Pfaff, who greeted veterans at the airport, said she heard about Honor Flight through her history class. Pfaff said she thought that it was an opportunity worth experiencing.
“There’s nothing else like it,” said Pfaff. “I don’t think that I will ever forget it. You’re feeling what those veterans are feeling all over again. I am never going to forget this and I know [the veterans] won’t ever. It was just something that impacted each and every one of the people that was there.”
The students did not get back until after midnight, but Pfaff said that the experience of interacting with these veterans was worth it.
“One of the first five veterans came out and my friend was next to me and he turned to her and he grabbed her face and he said, ‘You are so pretty,’ and she didn’t know what to say and she just started breaking down,” said Pfaff. “Then towards the end, one of the last few veterans was coming around and he was shaking every single person’s hand and was saying ‘I love you, I love you.’ That was crazy because he was so thankful for us being there and that just made it all worthwhile.”
John Strom, 2010 Honor Flight participant, said he was very thankful for the opportunity.
“I was walking about six inches off the floor for three or four days after it,” Strom said.
According to Tarjan, this was a learning experience that “you can’t beat.”
“The kids got to really understand the situation that [the veterans] were in, meaning they got to understand that they were [at the airport] to welcome home people that never got a proper welcoming,” Tarjan said.
Strom was also there to welcome home the veterans allowing him to reflect on his Honor Flight experience.
“It was great [seeing all the people],” said Strom. “They all made me cry. All these people just to welcome us back home again. I remember thinking I finally got my parade.”