It was bringing a chance for the veterans to heal and remember.

Marine veteran George Heldt, of Estherville, stood at the beginning of the sidewalk that leads to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. under some shady trees. It was hot and humid, a little like it was in Vietnam.

His daughter, Kelly Laszczak, stood by his side.

They walked down the path together. There was a little hesitation in his step.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Army veteran Jim Peterson, of Gowrie, holds his dad's burial flag for a photo at the Iowa pillar at the World War II Memorial during the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight Saturday. His dad was Navy veteran Archie Peterson, of Gowrie, who died in 1993 and had served in World War II.

He had a lot of names to look for — names gone since 1966.

“My whole squad,” Heldt said, “During the operation we were on, it wounded or killed most of us. I never saw anyone in the unit again. It was up in the DMZ during Operation Prairie. That’s where I lost most of my squad.”

The Wall is part of the healing for the veterans.

“It will help the healing.” he said. “I really believe that; this is really helping.”

One of Heldt’s names was Ronald Eugene Johnson.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight Veteran Lambert Hoffman is all smiles as he's greeted by volunteers at Dulles International Airport Saturday morning.

“He took us into a battle that took his life,” Heldt said.

Laszczak was instrumental in getting him to go on the trip. Many veterans are reluctant to take a spot. They want to save it for someone else to be able to go.

Heldt is one way to spell “hero” in German. If you ask him, he doesn’t consider himself one. Those names on the Wall are.

Laszczak had a few simple words for him.

“You’re the best dad anyone ever had,” she said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Ethan Bradin, 7, of Frederick, Maryland, salutes veterans arriving at Dulles International Airport Saturday morning on the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight.

Army veteran Richard Rees, of Okoboji, was in Vietnam in 1969.

He was looking for names too.

“Six of them,” he said. “All my buddies. We had one guy named Bill we used to call TT. We had Little Bill and Big Bill; he was a really good kid. He always talked about how his dad was so proud of him. He was a tunnel rat. He came up with a really nice 9mm pistol one time. When he got killed, I was going to take the pistol back to his dad with his body but a clerk stole it. I thought if I brought back his kid’s body without it, his dad would think I stole that pistol. I declined to go. That was it, that was the last time I saw him — 53 years ago.”

He, too, said the wall was a chance for healing — even if it opened old wounds and made them raw again.

He wanted a beer.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
133rd Test Squadron Iowa Air National Guard Master Sgt. James Dawson carries one of the Honor Flight flags off the plane early Sunday morning at the Fort Dodge Regional Airport as the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight landed around 2 a.m. following a weather delay.

“We had Schlitz Beer in ‘Nam,” he said.

There are many stories at the Wall.

If you stand, close your eyes and listen.

“What happened that day?”

“We got hit; I got promoted to sergeant.”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
It may have been past 2 a.m. Sunday morning and it was indeed raining, but neither did anything to dampen the enthusiasm of those who had stayed at the Fort Dodge Regional Airport to welcome members of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight home.

U.S. Army veteran Jim Peterson, of Gowrie, and Air Force veteran Daryl Adam, of Farnhamville, have known each other since childhood even though separated by a good decade.

“I was the bat boy when they were playing town baseball.” Peterson said.

Besides the names the pair wanted to visit on the Wall, Peterson had another veteran to honor: His father Archie Peterson, a Navy veteran that served in World War II. Peterson brought along his dad’s burial flag. His dad died in 1993 before the Honor Flights began.

At the World War II Memorial, Peterson posed for a photo with his father’s flag at the Iowa pillar. Then he got on to the business at hand that he knew his dad would have wanted.

“If he was watching,” Peterson said. “Right now he’d say, ‘You’d better do what I told you to do.”

Peterson produced a small bottle of whiskey he’d sort of taken along, then turned to his friend, Air Force veteran Bill Maher, of Fort Dodge.

“Have a shot with me,” he told him.

Maher served as a jet mechanic during the Vietnam War. He was stationed in Thailand.

“I was young and I loved it,” he said.

He was overwhelmed by the Wall.

“You can’t put that war into perspective until you see all the names on that,” he said.

At the World War II Memorial, the veterans were greeted by one of the most colorful characters from the conflict — Gen. George S. Patton, who in the civilian world is Sid Wade, a National Park Service volunteer.

“I do this for the veterans,” he said. “They enjoy it.”

He’s accurate in his portrayal. The various pieces of his uniform are original to the 1940s. He holds his cigar like Patton and there are three stars on his helmet. The only thing missing is Patton’s sidearm, an omission due to the District of Columbia’s gun laws.

“I’ve never had a reaction other than positive,” he said. “I’ve had two vets that were on Patton’s staff and quite a few from the Third Army.

The veterans got to see quite a bit on their trip. The Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, the Marine Corps Memorial, the Air Force Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery were on the agenda, as well as a windshield tour that included Congress and the south side of the White House.

The return trip brought the group to within sight of the Fort Dodge Regional Airport and the thunderstorm cell that was directly over the airport. The result was a bit of a detour, to Minneapolis for fuel and to wait out the storms.

The flight crew was able to bring the veterans back very early Sunday morning. Touching down, skidding a bit and then finally bringing the Sun Country 737 to the gate at about 2 a.m. in a nice steady rain.

Even then, inside the terminal, many of those who had come earlier in the evening to welcome the veterans back remained.

The signs still bright and dry inside.

“Welcome back.”