Honor Flight
Bernie Katz, 86 years young, and I have stayed in touch since we met over a year ago when we first met at Newhall’s Senior Center. We recently met again at his Friendly Valley home to discuss his Veteran’s Honor Flight earlier this year.

Honor Flight Network is a non profit organization dedicated to returning war Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam to Washington D.C. to tour our nation’s magnificent monuments, but also to provide honor and closure.

Bernie Katz, Army Photo 1952

Friendship and Camaraderie
Bernie is a regular at Newhall’s Senior Center and it was there in early 2017 that he obtained an Honor Flight flyer, which led to his beloved wife Dorothy assisting him in submitting application documents.

Having received no feedback as months rolled by, Bernie reached out to Congressman Steve Knight and his staff person Christine Ward was promptly assigned.

Two months later, Bernie and 16 other Veterans were invited to an orientation session to Bakersfield’s American Legion Hall.

Bernie’s son Marc, who joined the adventure as his guardian, drove Bernie and his wife to Bakersfield.

Once at the American Legion Hall, the trio met their fellow adventurers consisting of three World War II Veterans (including Helen, a nurse, who is 98 years young and the most senior in the group), fourteen Korean War Veterans, a volunteer nurse and a volunteer photographer. Each Veteran brought along one escort.

“Our friendship and camaraderie began forming right from the start,” said Bernie.

Bernie Katz & son Marc at Statuary Hall, Capitol Building

Overwhelming Sense of Pride
Two weeks later, on May 5, 2018, Marc drove Bernie to a Bakersfield hotel for an overnight stay, courtesy of Honor Flight Network. The next morning, the group assembled at Meadows Field Airport.

After one layover, they arrived at Ronald Reagan Airport and to their delight local fire department trucks saluted them by blasting water over their aircraft as they taxied to their terminal.

“For those three days, everywhere we went throngs of citizens stood, saluted and applauded us, and hollered, thank you for your service,” said Bernie. “All of us felt an overwhelming sense of pride and it was downright emotional at times.”
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
For Bernie, there were so many highlights during this trip, but visiting Arlington National Cemetery and observing the famous changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was especially captivating.

Honor Flight Veterans at Korean War Memorial

As a Korean War combat Veteran visiting the Korean War Memorial, it was rather emotional for him as it was his most meaningful experience. Unexpectedly, Bernie’s nephew, Michael Katz and his wife Judy, who live in upstate New York, arrived in town and spent time with Bernie and his son on several monument bus tours.

Bernie was very pleased since he had not seen them in over ten years.

Congressman Kevin McCarthy
“Participating in this extraordinary adventure was a privilege and a chance of a lifetime,” said Marc. “It was my high honor to escort and assist those American heroes and spending time with my dad in our nation’s capitol will remain unforgettable.”

Bernie Katz with Congressman Kevin McCarthy

For these veterans and their escorts, meeting Congressman Kevin McCarthy was an impressive experience as he and his staff provided private Capitol Building tours in areas usually inaccessible to the public.

McCarthy’s demeanor was most gracious as he personally led the group onto the House Floor, indeed a rare opportunity.

Congressman McCarthy also presented each Veteran a folded U.S. Flag that had flown over the Capitol Building.  As a surprise, each veteran’s escort had previously collected letters and cards from friends and family members which were presented to them during their flight home.

Bernie became quite emotional receiving his collection of well wishes from his son.

“It was a sight for sore eyes seeing over 300 patriots at Bakersfield’s airport terminal cheering and waving flags as our Veterans came through,” said Marc.

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