By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
In the early morning hours of Sept. 18, 160 people boarded a plane at the Fort Dodge Regional Airport that took them to Dulles Airport in Washington, D. C. This was the 26th Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight taking World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans to the nation’s capital.
The flight included 109 veterans with 11 of those from Guthrie County. Others on the flight were volunteers and Brushy Creek board members. The volunteers included a doctor, three nurses, airport personnel and several others to provide direct assistance to veterans.
Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was the second stop of the day and where the group encountered the heaviest rain. They were present for the changing of the guard ceremony. A wreath from the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight was placed at the tomb as part of the ceremony.
About 100 people were on hand at the Fort Dodge airport to honor the departing veterans. A large American flag hung overhead from the extended ladder of a fire truck.
Honor Flight Network is a national nonprofit organization comprised of independent hubs working together to celebrate America’s veterans. While initially focused on America’s World War II veterans, Honor Flight Network expanded to include those who served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
More than 128 hubs across the country form the Honor Flight Network, and Brushy Creek is one of those. Other Iowa hubs are in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Davenport and Waterloo.
Patrick Moylan, who lives at Lake Panorama, has been involved with these Brushy Creek flights since 2019. That’s when the American Legion Post 372 in Panora added a Sons of The American Legion chapter, which Moylan joined.
Moylan’s father served in World War II, and his brother had a 20-year Navy career.
“My mother worked in a factory when she was just out of high school making parts for planes. She had six brothers who served in the military,” he says. “Although I wasn’t in the military, I have always felt a connection to those who were.”
Moylan learned about the Brushy Creek Honor Flights when he heard there were three veterans trying to raise money so they could apply for a flight.
“I didn’t think it was right they should have to raise their own funds. Our American Legion post held a pancake breakfast at The Port to support those first three,” he says.
The cost is $600 for each veteran on one of the Honor Flights. Word spread through Guthrie County that funds were needed to make this opportunity available to other veterans.
“We got other businesses in the community to help, and an $18,700 donation from Ten Squared Men of Guthrie County,” Moylan says.
Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was the second stop of the day and where the group encountered the heaviest rain. They were present for the changing of the guard ceremony. A wreath from the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight was placed at the tomb as part of the ceremony.
A 2023 golf tournament at the Panorama West course raised $24,000. A second tournament this June raised nearly $33,000.
“Now that our fundraising efforts are established, we have money to support more veterans,” Moylan says. “Our organization will pay for any Iowa veteran who was active duty and served anywhere between 1941 and 1975. Besides the Guthrie County veterans on this latest flight, we supported an additional eight veterans from Polk, Dallas, Adair and Adams counties.”
Moylan has been involved in many aspects of these flights, which take place twice each year. He encourages veterans to fill out applications, helps with fundraising, and manages many of the local details. Sept. 18 was his first time to participate in person.
“They talked me into this one,” he says. “I’ve always been happy to help with the support structure these flights require and didn’t want to take a seat from someone. Now I’m grateful I got to go.”
One reason Moylan was swayed to join the flight was because his granddaughter, Kennedy Andersen Rolfes, a Panorama graduate, was a volunteer nurse.
“I loved the experience of accompanying veterans to D.C. I was able to hear their stories and listen to how each memorial made them remember their service,” Rolfes says. “Seeing how proud each veteran was of their service to our country was a humbling feeling.”
Rolfes says comments made by veterans touched her heart.
“One said, ‘How are places like these not supposed to make grown men cry.’ Another veteran, when we were at the World War II memorial, said, ‘I can’t believe in a place as busy as this how calm these memorials feel as you walk around each one of them.’ I couldn’t agree more,” she says.
These Honor Flights make for long days. Each begins with a 5:30 a.m. check-in at the Fort Dodge airport, departure around 6:30 a.m., and arrival at Dulles Airport more than two hours later. Three buses, each with a tour guide, transport participants to the various memorials. Snacks, water and box lunches are provided on the buses. The day ends in Fort Dodge at 10:30 p.m.
Kennedy Rolfes is shown with her grandfather, Patrick Moylan, at the World War II Memorial. Rolfes was one of three nurses on the Sept. 18 Honor Flight. Moylan has been active in fundraising and organizational tasks for these honor flights since 2019. This was the first flight he has been on.
Next were visits to the Lincoln, Korean War and Vietnam War memorials, then to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, commonly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial. The World War II memorial was the final stop before returning to Dulles Airport for the flight home.
Barry Monaghan was one of the Guthrie County veterans on the flight. He was drafted into the Army after his number, 26, was pulled during the 1970 lottery.
“I thought the honor flight was great. I hesitated to do this because I’ve been to D.C. several times. But everything was extremely well done,” Monaghan says. “The visit to Arlington National Cemetery can’t be topped; it’s an experience you can’t replicate anywhere else.”
Monaghan says the way the veterans were greeted at both airports was wonderful.
“It was a lot different than any airport reception I experienced in 1971 and 1972. I was 100% against going on this trip, and now I’m 100% glad I did,” he says.
Dick Groom, who, with his wife, Joyce, has had a home at Lake Panorama since 1985, also was on the flight. Groom grew up in the state of New York and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1959. He served four years of active duty with the last two in Arlington, Virginia. He and Joyce were married in May 1963 in a chapel on the Marine base there, and he was discharged two months later.
Groom says what stood out the most to him were the people who came out to support the veterans at the two airports.
“There was a long line of individuals at Dulles to greet us,” he says. “There were young people and adults, clapping, shaking hands, giving fist bumps. Everyone was very supportive.”
An even larger crowd was on hand when the group’s plane landed in Fort Dodge.
“There was a tremendous reception when we got back. There was a band playing, flags flying,” Groom says. “We were introduced one at a time as we stepped off the plane and came down the steps. It was very emotional.”
Groom encourages other veterans to apply for future Honor Flights.
Jolene Schmidt of Waukee was one of four volunteers who carried a folded flag throughout the trip. Before the flight left Fort Dodge, she was given the flag plus a photo of a veteran scheduled to be on the Sept. 18 flight, who passed away last April. She took pictures at each of the memorials. Back in Fort Dodge, she gave the flag and photos to the veteran’s family.
Four volunteers on the flight each carried a folded flag and photo of a fallen veteran. The flags and photos were carried to each of the stops and photos taken. When the flight arrived at the Fort Dodge airport, these volunteers were the first to exit. They met family members of the four veterans who never had a chance to be on an Honor Flight. The folded flags were handed to the family, and photos of memorials visited sent soon after the trip.
Jolene Schmidt of Waukee is Dick Groom’s sister-in-law and one of the volunteers who carried a folded flag. She is a veteran, having served in the U.S. Army 1975-1978.
“This was the first time they’ve had the volunteers who carry flags meet with the family afterwards,” Schmidt says. “The veteran whose flag and photo I carried was scheduled to be on this flight but passed away last April. It was an honor to give the flag to his son and share photos with him and his family.”
Paul Wendl of Panora was drafted into the Army in 1968. He spent the second year of his two-year stint in Vietnam, where he was one of six cooks at a base camp for 200 soldiers. When he was discharged, he says the airports he traveled through were “very quiet.”
“The reception our group got when we landed at Dulles was great,” Wendl says. “There were lots of people waving flags, school kids, welcome signs, thank you signs. As we toured the various monuments, people came up to us to thank us for our service. As we left Dulles, there were even more people for our send off, with posters and words of thanks.”
Wendl says the arrival back in Fort Dodge was more of the same.
“There were so many people, lots of flags, handshakes and cheers,” he says. “We each got a goodie bag full of treats and gifts. There were letters school kids had written. After all these years, it felt like people appreciated us. It makes you feel great to be a U.S. citizen.”
Tom Clayton of Guthrie Center was in the Army from 1968 to 1971. He had been to Arlington National Cemetery in 1968.
Dick Groom, who lives at Lake Panorama, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1959, and served four years of active duty. He is shown in front of the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, commonly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Brothers Steve and TJ Powell of Menlo also were on the Sept. 18 flight. TJ was drafted into the Army Oct. 23, 1966, and discharged July 28, 1968. He was in Vietnam 13 months and 18 days. After his discharge, he flew home through San Diego, where public Vietnam War protests were underway.
“This was completely different. There were lots of people in Fort Dodge when we left there and more at the airport in D.C. when we arrived, all thanking us and cheering,” TJ Powell says. “When we got back to Fort Dodge, there was a big crowd. They announced each one of us as we went down the stairs, which was a surprise to us. It was very touching.”
Powell called the trip amazing.
“I think most of us guys never would have been able to do this without Brushy Creek and the fundraisers and coordination in Guthrie County,” he says. “I’m so thankful to everyone involved in helping make this possible for veterans.”
Other Guthrie County veterans on the flight were Duane Wasson and Patrick Lutz, Panora; Lawrence Kunce, Jamaica; and Dwight Hawley and Thomas Moore, Stuart. To date, 50 Guthrie County veterans have been on one of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flights.
Moylan says he is glad to have experienced this flight and encourages those who served in any branch of the military from World War II through the Vietnam War to apply for a future flight.
A large crowd was on hand to welcome the Sept. 18 Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight back to the Fort Dodge airport. The veterans descended the plane’s stairs one at a time as their name and branch of service was announced.
The next Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight is May 7, 2025. Anyone in Guthrie County and surrounding areas interested in completing an application or learning more can contact Patrick Moylan at 641-757-0382.
The Honor Flight Network transports approximately 22,500 veterans annually. More than 300,000 veterans have taken these one-day flights to Washington, D.C., since the first flight 19 years ago.
PICTURED AT TOP: A group photo of those representing Guthrie County on the Sept. 18 Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight was taken in front of the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, commonly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial. Shown left to right, front row, Tom Clayton, Lawrence Kunce, Patrick Moylan, Duane Wasson and Richard Groom. Back row, Thomas Moore, Steve Powell, TJ Powell, Barry Monaghan, Dwight Hawley, Paul Wendl, Pat Lutz and Kennedy Rolfes.