Veterans honored during homecoming celebrations in Central Oregon

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A delegation of 50 Central Oregon veterans and their guardians recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of this year's Honor Flight.

Honor Flight Central Oregon organizes the annual trip to take local veterans to the nation's capital to visit memorials built in honor of their service. The group included two Korean War veterans and 48 Vietnam War veterans.

Community supporters welcomed the group during homecoming festivities held at Redmond Airport and Ridgeview High School. Veteran motorcycle groups led a procession accompanying the veterans between the two locations.

Tony Gibler, a veteran who served from 1990 to 2001, joined the escort with the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. Gibler noted that many returning service members did not receive proper recognition when they first came home from war. “A lot of these veterans are from the Vietnam generation and stuff like that,” Gibler said. “The welcome home wasn't what it should have been, so they do this Honor Flight to get these gentlemen some of the recognition that deserve maybe some of the recognition they didn't get before they came when they came.”

Gibler emphasized the shared bond among motorcycle escort members who accompanied the group. “There's a sense of pride,” Gibler said. “There's a sense of ownership and taking care of each other. Part of our slogan with Combat Veteran Motorcycle Association is vets helping vets are we understand. We been there.”

Dane Prevatt serves as president of Honor Flight Central Oregon. Prevatt managed the efforts required to transport the large delegation to the capital and safely back. “The impact in their lives in this trip is unbelievable,” Prevatt said. “And to take so many. It was a task. But we made it happen. Got everybody home safe and well, it's a beautiful trip. These guys, a lot of guys get a lot of guys from Central Oregon to DC to see all the things that make this trip really special.”

Gary Worth, an Honor Flight participant who served in the military from 1963 to 1967, spoke about the experience of visiting the national landmarks dedicated to military service members. “It's a thrill that you can't believe how much they do treat the veterans just to go on this to Washington, D.C., to see all these memorials every day,” Worth said. “We went there. And it was every day was just it was breath taking to see all this stuff. And people thank you all the time. We went something like they would appreciate what we did.”