Air Force veteran pays it forward on Honor Flight Pittsburgh
As he was deployed to Korea during the Vietnam War era, Bob Reott never saw combat during his time in the U.S. Air Force, so he was apprehensive about going to Washington, D.C., with Honor Flight Pittsburgh.
After going in October 2023, Reott made it his mission to help provide the opportunity to other veterans, many of whom have a mindset similar to his own because they never saw combat in their time in the service.
“If you volunteered or were drafted, you did what your country asked you to do,” Reott said. “Some people say, 'I don't deserve to go because I never left the U.S.' But because they didn't send you, that's not your fault.”
Reott spoke about his experience as a guardian — volunteer aids for trip attendees — on Honor Flight Pittsburgh excursions on Monday, May 19. He and his daughter, Ronee Haller, a nurse at Butler Memorial Hospital, have gone on a few trips with the group as aids, helping veterans get around the Capitol and making sure they remain in good health throughout the day.
Haller and Reott have each found the trip rewarding for the opportunity to help veterans experience the monuments made in their honor.
Twice a year, Honor Flight Pittsburgh takes veterans of World War II and the Vietnam and Korean Wars to D.C. for an all-expense paid tour of the National Mall and its memorials and monuments. People on the tour visit memorials to people who died in each war and the individual branches of the military, as well as Arlington National Cemetery.
Reott said after being a tourist on one trip, he now enjoys seeing the reaction other veterans have to the sights.
“It's just very rewarding to see the joy and appreciation they have,” he said. “It gives the veterans a chance, every veteran that has served their country, a chance to visit Washington, D.C., and the memorials built in honor of what they fought for.”
Dr. David Rottinghaus, president of the physician network at Independence Health System, also went with Honor Flight as a guardian and said it is a way to learn about foreign wars from people who were there.
“What you learn from them about their lives, experiences, their families … you kind of sit there in awe of these people who are willing to go to foreign countries,” Rottinghaus said. “It's truly enjoyable to listen to them and watch them and see the day be about them.”
Reott said the memorial sites in D.C. are often where conversation takes off among veterans on the trip, who may recall memories of their time overseas and the friends they lost while serving.
“Every detail on those different memorials has meaning. It's really interesting and everyone gets to talking,” Reott said. “Numerous veterans have said this is part of the healing process.”
The experience for the veterans begins at about 5 a.m., when they leave from a church in Wexford for D.C. On the bus ride home, the veterans on the trip get a “mail call,” and are given letters and cards from family members and local youths, which Reott said is often enough to keep them awake — and emotional — for the final few hours of their journey.
The Honor Flight doesn’t end until near 11 p.m. or later, when the buses return to the church, which has one more surprise in store for them: a red-carpet welcome home.
“They get off the bus and students cheer for them in the church. The veterans don't expect them to be there,” Haller said. “It's super cool. My son and my daughter were both there and he didn't know my son was coming home from college and they have no idea that their family is going to be there at all.”
The welcome home from his family was enough to make Reott tear up when he was on his Honor Flight, he said.
“The color guard, ROTC, and in the back room is all families. It's really something,” Reott said.
For more information on Honor Flight Pittsburgh, visit its website at honorflightpittsburgh.org.
