‘An honor’: First steps made toward 29th Annual Central Valley Honor Flight

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – The countdown is underway for a trip like no other as steps toward the 29th Central Valley Honor Flight have begun.

Saturday marked the kickoff for the unforgettable experience for those veterans and guardians set to take flight.

This might be just a warmup for those set to take the trip of a lifetime, but it is a day they certainly will not forget.

“Today is the process where you get what we call the swag to all our veterans on trip 29 of honor flight. And this is where the veterans and guardians also sometimes for the first time meet. And they’ll get all the clothing that you’re going to be using in Washington, D.C. We fly in approximately three weeks,” Vietnam Veteran and Central Valley Honor Flight Volunteer Bill Goodreau said.

Goodreau says each of these veterans and their guardians or traveling companions— many of which are friends or family, will be taking off from Fresno on Sept. 16th on a non-stop flight to Baltimore.

“We’ll give them a great barbecue dinner that evening, Monday evening. Then Tuesday morning we’re up running early. I tell them not to look at your California watch time because we wake ’em up 5:30 in the morning on the East Coast… it’s 2:30 California time!” said Goodreau.

Goodreau, who has been on the trip six or seven times now says they will see memorials from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as memorials for each branch of the armed forces— and of course, Arlington National Cemetery including the tomb of the unknown soldier.

All that and more before returning home to Fresno to a well-deserved hero’s welcome— an earned round of applause some never got.

“The way I was treated, what they said to me, was pretty bad and that’ll stay with me for the rest of my life. I’m just grateful that this is being done. To me, it’s an honor,” said Vietnam Veteran Tony Gonzales.

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