Constable: 100 trips in, Honor Flight Chicago still opens hearts, including Park Ridge brothers'

Honor Flight Chicago started in 2008 as an ambitious project that transported 60 World War II veterans to Washington to see the national monument in their honor. Exceeding expectations and broadening the scope, the nonprofit agency celebrated its 100th Honor Flight this week on a special charter flight packed with 102 veterans from the Vietnam War, 11 from the Korean War and three from World War II.

As much as Honor Flight Chicago has changed, the relationship between Vietnam veterans John and Bob Runtz of Park Ridge still has that big brother/little brother dynamic.

“I went to Nam first,” brags John Runtz, 78, who was drafted and sent to Vietnam in 1965 as a radio operator with the U.S. Army's Advisory Team 91.

“And you said, 'Come on over, Bob, the water's nice,'” quips 76-year-old Bob Runtz, who was drafted five months after his brother and sent to Vietnam in 1966 as a radio repairman supporting the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Nothing about either brother's wartime experience was nice.

“The first day, they shot up through the tents,” remembers Bob Runtz. “The second day, they blew the ammo dump. The third day, they ambushed our convoy.”

John Runtz says he was sent as an adviser, but “within six weeks, that all changed.”

Both brothers talk of mortar fire, snipers, explosions and whizzing bullets.

“The green trails coming up when you are in a helicopter were probably the most unnerving,” John Runtz says of the enemy fire rising from the ground. “There's no place to go, and you're not driving.”

Bob Runtz spent three months in a bunker guarding the air strip at the Chu Lai Air Base, firing his M-14 rifle to shut down enemy snipers, but it was the mortar attacks several times a week that were the scariest.

“We had 400 rounds of mortars in one night,” Bob Runtz remembers. “I still can't believe only one guy died.”

Honor Flight Chicago co-founder and Treasurer Mary E. Pettinato has led countless trips, but Director Doug Meffley oversees the 100th flight aboard Southwest Airlines' Freedom One, a Boeing 737-800 emblazoned with a stylized flag of the United States.

“I can't believe how dedicated people are,” Meffley says of the 181 volunteers working on the send-off, which begins at 4 a.m. “To have that many people who want to wake up at 2 in the morning to be at the airport.”

Thirteen medical professionals, 10 staff members and 36 guardians, many of whom spend the day pushing a veteran in a wheelchair, also are on the flight. From stirring renditions of “God Bless America” and the national anthem before dawn by vocalist Wayne Messmer to the water cannon salutes at Chicago Midway International Airport and Dulles International Airport in Washington, everything is highly organized. Wheelchairs, snacks, meals, hydration and bathroom breaks run without issues. Funded entirely by donations, each flight costs about $1,250 per veteran, Meffley says.

Because of the pandemic, there were no flights in 2020. Last year, they changed the once-a-month schedule to squeeze in four trips in 10 weeks. This year is back on schedule, with the next flight set for May 11, but there are 2,700 Vietnam veterans still on the waiting list, Meffley says. To donate, volunteer, sign up a veteran, or just to hear remarkable veteran stories compiled for a podcast by longtime ABC 7 Chicago reporter and current Honor Flight Chicago board member Paul Meincke, visit honorflightchicago.org.

“This is amazing,” both Runtz brothers marvel at some point during the trip that includes a ceremony at the World War II Memorial, visits to the Air Force Memorial, the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial featuring a statue of the iconic flag-raising on the island of Iwo Jima, a performance by the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon in front of the Lincoln Memorial, the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum, Arlington National Cemetery, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Women's Memorial and the haunting Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall.

Even though both Runtz brothers never hesitated to serve their nation, they both thought the Vietnam War was a mistake.

“What is the game plan here?” John Runtz remembers thinking. “Are we just going to kill so many, they'll put down their guns and go home? I knew we weren't going in the right direction.”

In uniform for his flight home from Vietnam more than 50 years ago, Bob Runtz remembers getting a cool reception. “Nobody would sit next to me on the plane,” he says. He says he had to push aside a Hare Krishna member blocking his exit.

“My kids didn't even know I was in the service until they were teenagers,” Bob Runtz says.

He and his wife, Sandie, have grown children Karrie, Keith and Lauren, and four grandchildren. John and his wife, Eileen, have grown children Mary Beth, Tom and Joe, and eight grandkids. Both men had careers before and after the war with what was then called Illinois Bell Telephone Company, rose to supervisory positions and worked on contracts after they retired.

They never talked much about Vietnam, but Bob Runtz got some unexpected recognition earlier this month during The Chicago Experience concert at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights when the band announced they wanted to honor an 11th Calvary veteran. “The 11th Calvary? Maybe I know this guy,” Bob Runtz remembers thinking before he found out he was the guy.

After their arrival back in Chicago about 9 p.m., the Runtz brothers walked past a cheering throng that included another 121 Honor Flight Chicago volunteers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, military personnel, a band, youth groups and a host of loved ones.

Bob Runtz's wife, Sandie, was holding a sign and was joined by their longtime friends Steve and Nancy Frost, Denise and Tom Mitchell, Cheri and Bruno Tassone, and Bob and Lynn Pacente. John's wife, Eileen, was joined by son Joe and his wife, Debbie, and their son, Matthew; son Tom and his wife, Laurie, and their sons, Lucas and Milo; and daughter Mary Beth, who held up a phone to give her dad a special audience with her husband, Ryan Nelson, and their 7-year-old son, Brendan, who was speaking from Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, where he is undergoing treatment.

Bob Runtz admits that the emotional day got to him, and he had to wipe a few tears from his eyes.

“My allergies are kicking in,” he told his wife before admitting, “but it's more than allergies. This day is something I'll never forget.”

That sentiment gets repeated often at this arrival home and on every Honor Flight Chicago trip.

“It's a 'Welcome Home' theme as much as it is 'Thank you for your service,'” Meffley says. “But it's the love we wrap everyone in that's been consistent.”