A group of Wisconsin veterans received an unexpected honor on Saturday when their Badger Honor Flight landed in Washington, D.C., and former President Barack Obama personally greeted them on the tarmac.
Obama boarded the plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, shaking hands with each of the 88 veterans — most of them Vietnam and Korean War service members — and presenting them with commemorative coins. (RELATED: Wisconsin Legislators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Increase Compensation for Wrongly Convicted)
Navy veteran Nels Swenson said he was surprised to hear Obama’s voice come over the intercom. “There were people sitting up front that could see him, and it quickly moved back through the plane that President Obama was there to greet us,” Swenson recalled to WPR. “I tried calling my wife, and I was at a loss for words. I never expected anything even close to that to happen.”
Jody McClain, director of flight operations for Badger Honor Flight, said organizers had no advance notice of the former president’s visit. “He boarded directly from the tarmac to keep the attention on the veterans,” she said, adding that many participants described the trip as a powerful and healing experience.
Badger Honor Flight is one of five regional hubs in Wisconsin that bring veterans to the nation’s capital to visit war memorials and receive recognition for their service. (RELATED: Democrats Split as Baldwin Rejects Deal to End Record Shutdown)
