Gene Caldwell had never been to Washington, D.C. before last week.  Although he had wanted to visit on previous trips to the east coast, there had never been time to get to the nation’s capital.  That all changed when Gene took part in an Honor Flight with dozens of other veterans to tour the memorials and be recognized at a banquet to honor those who have served.  After being nominated for the Nucor’s Honor Flight by neighbor and Nucor employee Chris Showell, Gene was booked a seat on the flight out of Utah to the national’s capital with around 75 other veterans to tour the nation’s war memorials and historic sites.

During the visit, Caldwell visited a number of places that he was thrilled to finally be able to see in person.  

Fort HcHenry was one of the places Gene was most impressed by.  The fort is most famously associated with the War of 1812, and is intimately linked to the composition of the Star Spangled banner.  Francis Scott Key wrote the poem “The Defence of Fort M’Henry”[sic], which provided the lyrics to the national anthem while witnessing the flag still standing after a night of heavy British bombardment. The Fort has been restored, of course, but the guns from the war are still on the shore, and the history of the location is on full display.  “That was really something!  They had a big flag out there and they lowered it so we all got a chance to fold it.  It was fantastic!  We got to walk out to where the guns were and see the grounds and everything.”

Another place that Caldwell found inspiring was Arlington National cemetery.  The group was able to be on hand for the changing of the guard.  They also visited the grave of war hero Audie Murphy, and the Eternal Flame commemorating president John F. Kennedy.  “They’d come in and pull up one of the veterans to help them a bit when they changed.  It was quite a place, and you really think about all the guys that are buried there.”

With only about a half hour between stops, the pace of the tour was brisk, but rewarding.  “We didn’t have time to see everything, but we saw a lot.  We visited the Lincoln memorial, Korean War, WWII, Vietnam, Navy Memorial, and the Washington monument.  We saw about every memorial they got back there in two days.”

Gene has a special connection to the Korean War memorial, as his service took place then.  According to him, the majority of the veterans on the tour were also Korean War vets, although there were representatives of many other periods in military history.

“It put a different perspective on what they do in Washington for me,” Caldwell said. “Just seeing how they are honoring all these veterans and their history.”  One iconic piece of history that Gene remarked on was at the World War II Memorial.  “I was surprised by the Iwo Jima statue—where they’re raising the flag.  What got me about that is when you see it on TV and in books, I thought it was about eight feet tall.  But it’s sixty feet high!  Those men are about eight or ten feet high by themselves holding up the flag.”

“We stopped at the White House and the Capitol, but we couldn’t go in.  Even though we couldn’t, just seeing those places really made me think about people trying to destroy that beautiful building.  It’s our country, that’s what gets me—I don’t know how those guys could do that.”

Caldwell mentioned a number of times that the staff from Nucor made the experience memorable and trouble-free. “The guys from Nucor were really good.  They got us where we needed to go.  They divided us up into three buses, a red, white and blue one with 25 veterans each and what they called our guardians.  I was on the blue bus.  It was very organized.” In order to get everything on the itinerary done, the group had to be up and going by seven o’clock every morning.   Wheelchairs were provided to everyone (“Whether we needed them or not!”), but despite the large number of people to organize, the tour went off without a hitch.

“We went the first day as far as we could go, and we they got us a hotel room and had a banquet for all of us,” Caldwell said.  “There was a senator there who thanked us all for being there, and then Nucor gave out some awards. They gave an award for the oldest fellow there, and guess who it was?  Well, it wasn’t me.  There was one guy who was about three days older than me!”  

Caldwell got to know the people on the blue bus pretty well.  “Most of them were from northern Utah.  There were a couple from Arizona, and then there were three guys from Idaho.  One of them lives here down by the grocery store, I guess!  Another guy was from way over in Wyoming.”  The blue bus became a small ad hoc community for the two days of the tour, and they became friends.  “There was one guy on our bus with a big beard.  He said ‘How old do you think I am?’ I guessed he was in his 80s, and he was 89.  I said ‘Well, I got you beat—I’m 92!’ and he called me Old Man the rest of the time.”

Beyond the memorials themselves, Caldwell came away with a new view of Washington, D.C.  “What I was amazed about was the whole area—Washington, D.C.—there were a lot of trees there.  They just cut roads right down through the trees and laid down roads for all these memorials, and it’s really well laid out.”  The weather was about 70 degrees the whole time, and Gene found everything about the experience to be perfect.

Even the return to Utah was a thrill.  “When we got out of the plane there was a ten piece band playing ‘Welcome Home’ to us and I thought there was 1,500 people there.  With signs, and little kids. We shook hands, and it took us about an hour to get to our cars.”

So far, NuCor has taken almost 400 veterans on Honor Flights.  “And when I got back, to show my thank you to Nucor I sent them this book we did of all the veterans.  They really appreciate what we did, and I really appreciated their staff.”  The Oneida County Veterans Book, which lists the known service members from Oneida County along with colorized pictures, had its official release last week and promptly sold out.  Another 100 copies of the volume have been ordered.

“It was great to be with all those guys,” Caldwell said.  He served in the Signal Corps with the 24th Infantry Division.  “There was about six of us in what they called the Message Center.  You had to have Top Secret clearance.  I got trained down in San Luis Obispo, which took about six months.  And so wherever the General was, that’s where we were.  We moved up to the 38th parallel the last week we were there, and then the war ended.”

As he recounts the experience, Gene has nothing but fond memories of the trip, and gratitude for the opportunity.  “They treated us like kings over there.  You couldn’t ask for anything better.”