Huntley Natives Share Their Honor Flight Experiences

The Honor Flight, bound for Washington D.C., was 20 minutes in when smoke began to permeate the cabin. Onboard was former Huntley resident Steve Schwertfeger and nearly 100 World War II veterans, some of whom relied on wheelchairs and walkers to get around.

Schwertfeger, like other Honor Flight Chicago Guardians on board, was personally responsible for the care, comfort and safety of three participating veterans, but as the plane began returning to Midway Airport, it was clear his duties and concerns had spread beyond that.

“This veteran I was sitting next to grabbed my arm and said, “Are you afraid?’” Schwertfeger recalled. “And I said, ‘Well, I’m concerned.’ He said, ‘When I was in World War II, my plane flew over Germany and had an engine shot out. We flew for two hours on one engine and we made it and I’m here, so don’t worry.”

The flight, which safety returned to Chicago before heading back to the nation’s capitol, was one of two Honor Guard Flights discussed Saturday at the Huntley Public Library. Also speaking was Huntley resident Al Jordi, a World War II veteran who participated in a separate Honor Flight conducted last year. Both Schwertfeger and Jordi were appearing as part of the library’s Local Voices program.

Anchoring the event was Schwertfeger’s thirty-plus minute Power Point presentation showing highlights from the one-day trip, which began with veterans and their guardians gathering at 3 a.m. at Midway Airport. After arriving in Washington, the group visited the National World War II Memorial before taking in the Korean War Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

On the return trip home, a mail call was issued with all of the veterans receiving manila envelopes containing correspondence from friends, family, and well-wishers. For the veterans, the incident was an emotional moment and one of two that Schwertfeger captured on camera.

“I was smart. I didn’t open my mail until I got home and then I stayed up until two o’clock in the morning reading it,” said Jordi, who also stated that initially he didn’t want to go on his Honor Flight because he “didn’t feel like he had any wartime experience.”

“When we got over to Taipan, I was scheduled for the invasion of Japan, but they took me out of there and made me a stenographer,” he said. “I was the secretary to the Inspector General so I sat behind a desk and typewriter and a Steno pad and a pen and a pencil for 16 months.”

Jordi, 85, who was born and raised in Huntley, was one of four boys in his family to serve in the war.

“You had to be 18 years and six months old before you could go into the service and I made it by three days,” he said.

But while Jordi was able to sneak past the emotional mail call, he couldn’t shake the outpouring of support that awaited him back at Midway. The scene was similar to what Schwertfeger included in his presentation, showing the veterans’ plane receiving a water cannon salute before they were greeted in the terminal by family and friends as well as current and former members of the military, the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Fire Department, local scouts and a bag-pipe band. Schwertfeger estimates 1,000 people turned out to greet the veterans aboard his Honor Flight.

“The thing that got me was the young kids,” Jordi confessed. “The seventh and eighth graders, standing at the door as you got off the plane, and they had candy and a handout that read ‘Thank you For Serving.’”

Among those attending the Local Voice events were Warren Higgins and Phil Lomonaco, both Huntley residents and World War II veterans. The men said they hope to be selected for an Honor Flight this year.

Honor Flight Chicago, a nonprofit organization, has conducted 26 such flights since 2008, taking 2,108 veterans to the World War II Memorial.