Wisconsin veterans welcomed to DC by former president Obama

A group of Wisconsin veterans received a special welcome on Saturday when their plane touched down in Washington, D.C.

Former President Barack Obama greeted the participants of Badger Honor Flight, an organization that brings veterans to see the war memorials located in and around the nation’s Capitol.

Navy veteran Nels Swenson said he didn’t immediately recognize the former president’s voice speaking over the plane’s 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,” said Swenson, who served as a communications technician during the Vietnam War.

Swenson and the other 87 Vietnam and Korean war veterans on board got a handshake and a commemorative coin from Obama while exiting the plane. 

He said it was an honor to meet a former commander in chief.

“I tried calling my wife, and I was at a loss for words,” Swenson said. “I never expected anything even close to that to happen.”

Jody McClain, director of flight operations for Badger Honor Flight, said she and other local organizers were just as surprised as the veterans and their families. 

She said the former president boarded their plane directly from the tarmac at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in order to keep the focus on the veterans walking through a welcome celebration in the terminal.

McClain said the trip is already meaningful for so many former service members, especially those who did not receive a warm welcome home during the Vietnam War.

“We get a lot of thank yous: ‘Thank you for helping me heal.’ ‘Thank you for giving me the closure I needed,’” she said.

Her group is one of five regional hubs operating Honor Flights out of Wisconsin.