Vietnam War veteran Jon Platt still has vivid memories of his time on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin, and, on Sunday morning, he was eager to start sharing them with his fellow travelers on the 2025 High Plains Honor Flight.
“I’m looking forward to just being with other veterans,” Platt said as he waited at the McKee 4-H Building to board a bus to Northern Colorado Regional Airport. “It’s like a club. You went in and you survived.”
Platt was among the 111 Vietnam War veterans heading to Washington D.C. on this year’s flight, along with a World War II veteran and several from the Korean War. Up to 60 chaperone “guardians” will also take the whirlwind tour, which will have them back in Loveland on Monday evening.
Seeing them off in Sunday morning’s fog were hundreds of friends, family members and well-wishers, who gathered for an emotional farewell.
“Every black hat in this room answered that call — they answered the question ‘If not me, then who?’” retired U.S. Air Force Col. Skip Johnson said in remarks to the crowd. “And it’s so important for trips like this, that you may not think you’re worthy of this, but trust me, you are. I live in a free country because of what you did.”
Since 2005, the nonprofit Honor Flight Network and its 128 nationwide hubs have flown 275,000 veterans to Washington D.C. at no charge, to give them a chance to see in person the monuments and memorials erected to honor their service.
In 2008, retired U.S. Army colonel Stan Cass founded Northern Colorado Honor Flight to serve veterans from the region, including Wyoming and Nebraska. Over 10 years, the organization organized 22 trips for close to 3,000 veterans.
Northern Colorado Honor Flight ceased operations in 2018 following Cass’ death, but the next year, board member Matt Voris picked up the reins and High Plains Honor Flight was born. Since then, he and his organization have organized five trips to Washington D.C.
“I got exposed to Honor Flight in 2009 when I was with the Colorado Patriot Guard, riding in the motorcycle escort,” Voris said. “When I saw the emotion on the veterans’ faces that were on that trip, I knew I had to find out more about this and start volunteering.”
Spectators wave flags and cheer as buses carrying veterans participating in the High Plains Honor Flight leave The Ranch Events Complex on Sunday in Loveland. The veterans were headed to Northern Colorado Regional Airport to begin their journey to Washington, D.C.(Jocelyn Rowley/Loveland Reporter-Herald)Sunday’s trip was either number 18 or 19 for Voris, and it’s always an emotional experience, he said.
“We say it’s the trip of a lifetime,” he said. “It’s a life-changing experience for everyone on this flight.”
After veterans and their guardians boarded the buses, a group of motorcyclists provided an escort to the airport, while dozens of spectators lined the route.
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