A CT family is about to take a flight of a lifetime. They hope the honor also spreads to others.
A CT family is about to take a flight of a lifetime. They hope the honor also spreads to others.
When Chuck Miceli learned about Honor Flight, he thought it was the perfect way to honor two family members who served during the Korean War.
The Wolcott resident said veterans who served in World War II were greeted by “throngs of people waiting at ships and airports” when they returned home, but those who went to Korea came back to little fanfare.
Miceli got more than he asked for, though, and now he, his three brothers and his niece-in-law’s mother will all be flying to Washington, D.C. together on Sept. 2.
“It felt like ‘OK, that’s something worth celebrating,’ the fact that they were acknowledging the service of veterans who weren’t in one of the great world wars,” Miceli said about the trip.
Honor Flight is a nonprofit organization that flies veterans around the country to the nation’s capitol to visit memorials built to honor and memorialize veterans. The organization currently honors those who served during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Miceli and his brothers are part of a family with a lengthy track record of military service.
“It goes back before us,” said Miceli, who was a weapons mechanic in the Marine Corps Reserve.
He was looking to honor his older brother, Ky Miceli, 90, of Southington, who was a cryptographer and platoon sergeant in the Army, and Pauline Woodeshick, 88, of Meriden, who was a communications specialist in the Air Force. Woodeschick’s daughter, Dawn, married one of the Micelis’ nephews, Joe, also of Southington, who served in the Navy.
The planning quickly expanded to include Chuck Miceli and his brothers John and Dan, both Air Force veterans. Joe and Dawn Miceli, of Southington among others, will also join the trip.
“I just think it’s very special for this particular family because they have a huge family and, you know, military service has certainly been a part of their legacy,” Dawn Miceli said.
Chuck Miceli said one of their brothers served in World War II. Other nieces and nephews did or are currently serving, as well.
The members of the trip all said they’re looking forward to different things. Dan Micelli of Bristol, and Ky Miceli have never been to Washington, D.C. before.
“I’m just along for the ride,” Dan Miceli said, although he noted he wants to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Woodeshick hopes the trip will take them to Arlington National Cemetery in nearby Arlington, Virgina. She’s a charter member of the cemetery’s Women’s Memorial and hopes to see women guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
John Miceli said his wish is to be flown in a Lockheed Martin F22 Raptor, adding he often travels to airshows to see them.
Chuck Miceli said Honor Flight is keeping much of the planning secret, though.
“They try and make it a special day and have a lot of it be a special surprise,” he said.
Honor Flight did not respond to a request for comment. The organization’s last flight out of Connecticut was in May.
Woodeshick and the Micelis are proud of their military service.
“It’s a big honor, really, to be in the military,” Woodeshick said. “I’ve always thought that, I’ve always been very patriotic.”
Her service has also shaped her life: she met her husband in the Air Force, attended college thanks to the G.I. Bill and purchased her first home with a VA loan, she said.
But the Micelis also noted that a lot of veterans have been afraid to show that pride, especially those who were accosted for their service in Vietnam.
Chuck Miceli never had to go to Vietnam, but some of his friends did and were spit on or called things like “baby killers.”
“For years, none of us felt comfortable walking around with any sort of military insignia because people would curse at you in the street,” he said.
They hope benefits such Honor Flights help veterans feel proud of their service.
“There’s a whole lot of veterans out there who probably have never heard of” Honor Flights,” John Miceli said.