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Mt. Pleasant Vietnam Veteran selected to honor flight
Mt. Pleasant resident and Vietnam War Veteran Peter Jones has been selected to go on an honor flight to Washington, D.C.
The trip includes visits to numerous memorials in Washington, D.C., including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, World War II Memorial, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and numerous other memorials and historical places.
Jones said that he had heard of the flight before but never thought he would be selected.
"I had heard about the honor flights before," Jones said. "I never thought that I would get selected to go on the trip, though."
It was initially supposed to happen in 2020, but because of COVID-19, it was delayed.
"They were going to have it last year, but they couldn't because of the virus," Jones said. "The year before, I got a call asking if I was such and such, and I said, yes. They asked me if I wanted to go on an honor flight. I said that I would, so they took all my information and said they would call when they needed me."
He had to go through an orientation in Bettendorf to go on the flight.
Jones, who is originally from Oregon, has an incredible story on how he got to Iowa.
"I was over in Germany, and this is after the Vietnam War," Jones said. "There was a guy who came to where I was stationed, and I was running around with him. I said, do you have someone that I can write to? He gave me this lady's address, and I started writing to her. I reenlisted, and I was stationed in Arizona. I then left there and came to New London to meet this girl, and we ended up getting married."
After getting stationed back in Germany for 11 months, Jones retired and moved back to New London. He joined the National Guard in Mt. Pleasant, and was called to Desert Storm in 1991. Following Desert Storm and another trip to Germany, Jones retired from the military for good, and he now lives in Mt. Pleasant.
When asked what he's looking forward to seeing the most, Jones said he is looking forward to seeing it all.
Comments: hunter.moeller@southeastiowaunion.com
Peter Jones says he’s excited to go to Washington, D.C. for the first time, and to see as much as possible. (Hunter Moeller/The Union)
Peter Jones, who is originally from Oregon, came to Southeast Iowa because of a pen pal he wrote to while in Germany, and she eventually became his wife. (Hunter Moeller/The Union)
