Jerry Zabel was born in Munich, Germany, to a mother and father who barely survived Nazi concentration camps. Growing up, Jerry found his parents reluctant to talk about their experiences in WWII. When Vietnam broke out, Jerry's insatiable curiosity about the nature of war drove him to enlist—and soon the realities became all too real.

Air Force Captain Dave Adams was an F-4 Phantom fighter pilot in Vietnam, flying more than 200 missions over North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Long time Welcome Home flag line member Sonny Zdancewicz earned three Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts in Vietnam, but wasn't interested in receiving those medals until recently. He also wasn't interested in having his own Day of Honor -- until now.

Robert Gatenby had just married his wife of 56 years, Diane, when his draft notice arrived. During his service in Vietnam, Bob experienced the darkest moments war can bring. To protect his wife and parents, however, Bob's steady stream of letters home never let on to the danger he faced.

On June 6, 1944, Richard "Dick" Rung was aboard LCT 539 as it attempted repeatedly to land at Omaha Beach in Normandy among fierce German resistance. The memories of what he saw and experienced that day remain vivid.

While Ken Molnaire was working as an usher at the Des Plaines Theater in 1941, news broke of the Japanese bombing at Pearl Harbor. The attack set into motion world events that would send Ken across the pond to Europe as an integral member of Patton's Third Army.

In July of 2024, we celebrate the 11,000th senior war hero Honor Flight Chicago has brought to our nation's capital -- the most of any hub in the nation. How do we fly so many veterans while giving them all a personal 1-on-1 Guardian for the day? Our dedicated, selfless volunteers who live in the Washington D.C. area.

Tom Brown served as an infantryman in Vietnam, where he faced frequent and ferocious firefights as a member of the Big Red One. About six months into his tour, his unit was ambushed near the Cambodian border and Tom was severely wounded by a grenade.

The Vietnam War had a soundtrack. For the men and women in-country, music -- and often one specific song -- provided an escape and a connection to "the world."

On March 6, 1944, Richard Bushong was at the controls of a B-17 Flying Fortress as part of the first daylight bombing raid to reach Berlin during WWII. The air armada that day stretched for 94 miles in the sky and inflicted heavy damage on the Nazis -- but at an alarming cost to the Allied forces as well.

On December 7, 1966, Air Force Captain John W. Carlson was shot down near Bien Hoa and remains listed as Missing in Action. He left behind a wife and two young daughters, Margot and Kim. In 2015, Margot founded the 2 Sides Project, which unites children whose fathers died fighting each other to bring about understanding and lasting healing.

As a teenager in Vietnam, Donald Talbot was involved in a firefight so intense that many of his fellow Marines were killed. He quickly understood that to stay alive he would have to play dead -- and that was just the beginning of his fight for survival.