When Vietnam War veterans William Phelps and Denny Dwyer, both of Greenfield, and Montague’s 102-year-old World War II veteran Lee Evers got off buses at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut in the early hours of May 3, they were greeted by a “long-overdue celebration” of their service to America.

Phelps, Dwyer and Evers, alongside other veterans representing states across New England, traveled to Washington D.C. on May 3 through Honor Flight Connecticut, a regional hub of the national nonprofit Honor Flight Network that brings veterans across the United States to the nation’s capital to honor their service.

“Today is about you all. It’s a long-overdue celebration of your service and your sacrifice,” Honor Flight Connecticut co-founder Dan Sparks said in a speech at the airport. “We have some time and some missed opportunities to make up for.”

The cohort of 65 veterans from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War were honored with a day trip to the nation’s capital to visit war memorials and see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, among other sightseeing activities. After a catered dinner by Mission BBQ at a Ashburn, Virginia firehouse, the veterans returned to Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. for a mail call ceremony, then flew back to Connecticut later that night.

On that Saturday morning, the baggage claim of Bradley International Airport turned into a sea of red, white and blue as hundreds of the veterans’ loved ones, members of the Connecticut National Guard, Honor Flight volunteers and people representing other regional organizations gave them an enthusiastic send-off. Both Phelps and Evers were given special shout-outs for their service during Sparks’ speech, and for Evers being the oldest veteran on the flight, as well as the only World War II veteran.

William Phelps and Denny Dwyer

For these young men in the 1960s, both Phelps and Dwyer said they moved on past Vietnam, had families and careers, and reconnected as close friends after the war. They applied to the Honor Flight together, and both reflected on how their service was honored by the Honor Flight staff and the hundreds of people who came to celebrate them in Connecticut and Washington D.C.

Phelps, a 78-year-old Greenfield native who served two tours in Vietnam from December 1966 to September 1968 in the 5th Special Forces Group known as the Green Berets, said there was nary a well-wish from people about his military service when he first returned home after being injured in an attack.

“I actually came home with a fracture in my arm from the mortar attack. I came home a month early, and I fooled myself, because I was gonna surprise them getting home and nobody was home,” Phelps said about his return from service. “There wasn’t any ‘Welcome Home’ ceremony, I was all by myself. … Nobody says, ‘Hey, welcome home.’ Nobody really gave a s***, in plain English.”

Although Phelps said there was a lack of acknowledgment of the service he and other Vietnam veterans gave, he became involved in veterans affairs in Greenfield, like coaching with the American Legion Post 81 baseball team and serving on Greenfield’s Trustees of Soldiers Memorial. He started a family after returning from the service and he reconnected with Dwyer years later.

Similarly, Dwyer, 77, said he returned from Vietnam in November 1968, but stayed in hospitals abroad and in the United States after contracting a hepatitis infection and being medically evacuated. After surviving near daily mortar attacks, and hepatitis, he came home to his wife and started a family, but there was apathy surrounding his service as a Vietnam veteran. Yet, it was a part of his life he couldn’t forget.

“All I cared about was the 5 o’clock news or 6 o’clock news on TV to see what’s going on in Vietnam, so I didn’t totally shut out, but we were not popular,” Dwyer said.

Jennifer Stacy, Dwyer’s daughter, said her father not only came back sick, but never received the records of his service until two years after he came back to the United States.

“Everything was supposed to follow me, but it didn’t. Nothing did, including my records,” Dwyer said.

Fifty-seven years later, this Honor Flight in Connecticut wasn’t closure, Phelps said. Rather, it was an opportunity to be proud of his service in Vietnam when it was a part of his life that he felt he was supposed to keep to himself. The ceremony also highlighted that there are people who do care about the service he and his peers gave in Vietnam.

He said seeing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in person, and finding the name of Claude Rush — a 29-year-old soldier he was on a flight with who was killed within 22 hours of landing in Vietnam — was an emotional experience he’s grateful to have had.

“That whole experience was incredible. I’m glad I experienced that. I’ll never forget it the rest of my life,” Phelps said.

“It was pretty cool,” Dwyer said, with Stacy expressing gratitude that she was able to spend the day with her father and that he was honored in this way.

An experience like no other

For Evers, his presence on the Honor Flight was unique and something he didn’t expect.

“I expected to meet people just like me. There was no one,” Evers said in an interview after the trip. “All these people made a big fuss over my status, because to them, World War II was interesting.”

Evers points out how there were millions of Americans who served in World War II — approximately 60,000 of whom are still alive today, according to a projection by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In Massachusetts, Evers is one of 1,370 World War II veterans alive today.

Evers is 102, and was not only the only World War II veteran on the flight, he was the oldest. A well-known and beloved member of the Montague community, that love extended to him from loved ones and strangers alike when he arrived at Bradley International Airport, and while he was in Washington D.C.

“Each wall had hundreds of people lined up on both sides, because they were all aware that these veterans were coming into Washington, and they would wave flags at me and they would blow kisses at me,” Evers recounted. “The women would run over and kiss me on the cheeks, and the men would shake my hands and thank me for my service. And I was astounded at all this attention. I never got that.”

This attention was something Evers wasn’t used to, saying he was interviewed for 15 minutes for a documentary about the Honor Flight and that he was given a special shout-out during the morning speeches. His grandson, Arieh Kurinsky, pushed him in his wheelchair when Evers wasn’t standing to speak to press or exploring the monuments.

In reflecting on the day, Evers spoke of his astonishment over the buildings and monuments in Washington D.C., gesturing with his hands above him to express the scale of the monuments. He also spoke to his appreciation for the Honor Flight staff that made the day run seamlessly.

Moreover, Evers said when he returned from the war in 1945 after serving in the Pacific Theater, and earning five battle stars for his service, he settled back into his civilian life in Manhattan, New York, working for various toy companies, including Mattel, for many years. There were no large celebrations for him upon his return, but he said he’s had so much luck in his life that he feels no regrets for the war, or the century of life he’s been given since.

“I never had an experience like that in my life,” Evers said of the Honor Flight.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.