Read more about Evansville’s chapter in the American story in the July/August 2026 feature story.
With more World War II and Korean War servicemen and women dying each year, Honor Flight of Southern Indiana is determined to make sure American veterans are thanked — loudly, frequently — for their service.
Twice a year, HFSI ferries U.S. military veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials of the wars they served in. HFSI’s 20th mission took off for the nation’s capital at dawn on May 2 with nearly 200 seats filled on a chartered American Airlines flight. One of nearly 140 Honor Flight hubs in the U.S., Southern Indiana’s chapter is extremely busy: More than 1,000 veterans are on HFSI’s waiting list. The nonprofit can only solicit veterans from its 14-county area, but it accepts applications from outside the region, such as from Navy veteran Steven Hill, who traveled from Volusia, Florida, to Evansville for Honor Flight EVV20.
Veterans are feted every step of the way, starting with handshakes and a heartfelt send-off at Evansville Regional Airport. Touching down at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, their plane receives its second water cannon salute of the day, and passengers disembark to the sound of patriotic music, a gate decorated in military flags, and cheering throngs of Honor Flight volunteers and fellow travelers.
From the Air Force Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery to memorials for American casualties in Vietnam, Korea, and WWII, passersby go out of their way to thank veterans for their service. Army vet Ira McGuire was stunned when a Vietnamese man approached and expressed gratitude for McGuire helping liberate his home country. “I wasn’t sure which direction that was going when he walked up to me,” says McGuire, a Henderson, Kentucky, native who toured the monuments May 2 with his grandson, Ricky Dukes Jr.
Some veterans go to Washington, D.C., with a mission. U.S. Army veteran Ellis King recalled befriending a man named Dan Bullock during basic training in California in late 1968. Both were young when they were sent to Vietnam. King made it back home to Evansville, while Private First Class Bullock, a Marine from Brooklyn, New York, did not. Unbeknownst to military officials and his fellow servicemen, Bullock had backdated his birth year when applying to join the military. King was devastated to learn that Bullock was just 15 years old when he was killed in action on June 7, 1969. “It hurts to know that you got to come back home, and he didn’t,” King said, his voice breaking. Helped by his son, Wes, King now has a pencil rubbing of Bullock’s name from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
As a guardian for her father, a World War II veteran, on HFSI’s first mission in 2014, Sue Bengert says she saw “a bond and a camaraderie, both spoken and unspoken, among all 68 veterans that I will never understand. … For some, this was their first time to talk about their service.”
On the flight home, veterans look through a fraction of the 5,000 letters and cards written by loved ones and community members. It’s an apt precursor to the welcome home parade at Evansville Regional Airport — an HFSI staple — which regularly draws more than 1,000 relatives, friends, and members of the public. Most veterans on EVV20 served during the Vietnam War, a controversial conflict that often resulted in jeers when they came home from Southeast Asia. HFSI’s parade is the hero’s welcome they did not receive then.
“Even WWII veterans did not receive thanks when they returned to their hometowns,” says Bengert, who now serves as a captain for one of HFSI’s four tour buses. “This is why I chose to volunteer — to give every veteran the opportunity to receive their due gratitude.”
EVV20 veteran Bob Hulsey served as the guardian for retired Army Air Corps Sgt. Irving Levine during EVV2 in 2015. Twelve years later, Hulsey’s turn was expedited after a diagnosis of terminal cancer. Touring the capital with his son, Brian, Hulsey’s constant smile broadcast his joy about their journey together. Participating in an Honor Flight as both a guardian and a veteran gave him a fuller perspective of the program. “It’s such a special thing,” Hulsey said before boarding the flight home to Evansville and reuniting with his family. “I hope it never goes away.” He passed away peacefully at home 10 days later.
