Veterans get 'trip-of-a-lifetime' thanks to Melaleuca

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WASHINGTON — It was the “journey of a lifetime” for eight military veterans who traveled to the nation’s capital last week on an all-expenses paid trip courtesy of Melaleuca.

Ken Collins, Alan Gunn, Bill Jensen, Jim Lovejoy, Jim Pletscher, Roy Reed, Joe Robinson and Dave Siebert spent two days exploring monuments, museums, memorials and more in Washington, D.C., for the first-ever Idaho Veterans Appreciation Event.

“Oh my gosh, it was unbelievable,” Reed told EastIdahoNews.com. “You talk about being honored. It’s been a joy! It’s a dream of a lifetime and something you would like to see happen for all veterans.”

Reed served four years in the Korean War. He was drafted into the Navy in 1951, four days out of high school.

Last year, he went on an Honor Flight with dozens of veterans from Utah. Honor Flight is a national organization that transports American Veterans to Washington to visit historical memorials and monuments.

Reed loved the trip so much, he wanted to do something similar for veterans in our area. Idaho does not have an Honor Flight program, so he went to Frank VanderSloot and asked if he’d like to sponsor one.

“He said, ‘Yes, I would, but I want to do it my way,'” Reed recalled. “I said, ‘OK, that’s fine. Tell me what your way is.’ He said, ‘We’ll haul you to Washington, D.C., and you tell me what you want to do when you get there, and we’ll take care of it.'”

The trip was arranged, the veterans were chosen, and they were invited to ride with Melaleuca’s executive chairman to the nation’s capital on the company’s private plane. EastIdahoNews.com went along for the journey.

After three hours in the air and a 40-degree temperature change, the group landed in Washington. They went to a fancy hotel on Embassy Row, where a buffet dinner was waiting.

During the dinner, VanderSloot arranged to surprise each of the men with a veteran hero hat and pins specific to their branch of service.

“I’m honored to be here in your presence, and I’m honored to be able to celebrate in a real small way the contribution that you’ve all made to this great country,” VanderSloot said, holding back tears. “These men who didn’t come home – we’ll never hear their stories. They had a story, every one of them. They had a story, and most of their stories will never be told.”

At 91, Reed was the oldest in the group. Lovejoy, 56, was the youngest, having served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and a current member of the US Army Reserves.

“I can never give back to the country what the country has given to me. Ever. I’m in debt to the country, to the military, to the people more than I can ever pay back, ever,” Lovejoy said. “I’m trying to do what I can to help the country and to help others.”

For Pletscher, a Vietnam War veteran, this trip was extra special. His nephew, 41-year-old Marine Corp. Major Christopher Lucas, is one of 400,000 veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

It’s the same place President John F. Kennedy is laid to rest, next to the eternal flame, and every hour there’s a changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington.

Many of these veterans held back tears during the sacred ceremony, and Pletscher’s dream of seeing his nephew’s gravesite came true.

“I am absolutely blown away on this trip. I have now seen many things that I had not had the opportunity previously, so I am so grateful that somehow I was included on this trip,” he said.

Seeing the burial site was just one of many special moments for Pletscher. Among the 58,000 names on the 200-foot Vietnam Memorial Wall, he found two classmates from the U.S. Naval Academy who lost their lives in the war.

He traced their names with his fingers and left behind two red flowers.

Along this same wall, Vietnam vet Bill Jensen, who had never been there before, found the name of Gary Smith.

Read the rest of the story here

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