WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Triad Honor Flight helps take veterans on a mission to Washington, D.C., including a 100-year-old World War II and Korean War veteran from the Piedmont.
What You Need To Know
- Triad Honor Flight has taken around 600 veterans to Washington for free over the past few years
- Less than 1% of Americans who fought in World War II are still alive
- Vernon Cooper is a 100-year-old veteran living in the Triad
- He got to see the World War II Memorial in Washington for the first time through the nonprofit Triad Honor Flight
When Vernon Cooper was in high school, the need to serve his country called.
“It was just something I had to do,” Cooper said.
Cooper left high school to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a radio operator. As a teenager, he helped share information and monitor chatter with pilots.
“I went into the service 22nd of June, 1941,” he said.
The 100-year-old has pictures from all over the world in his time of service — including his first paycheck of $21, training camps and locations he visited. They are memories he holds dear.
“I turned 21 when I was at this field,” Cooper said, pointing at a black-and-white photo in his scrapbook. “The commanding officer turned around. He got me two bottles of champagne and a three-day trip to Paris.”
Pages of the scrapbook are filled with photos of people he met in his travels to Italy, France, Germany and elsewhere, even if he didn’t always speak their same language.
“My cardiologist said, ‘What do you owe your longevity to?' I said it was women, because I said there were always women in my life one way or another,” Cooper said.
Cooper says the photos don't bring up a single feeling but produce a kaleidoscope of the life he has lived.
“I have a saying — life is made up of memories,” he said.
In April, Cooper was able to add one more mission and memory to his scrapbook — traveling with the nonprofit Triad Honor Flight to Washington.
Hundreds of family, friends and supporters gathered April 25 before dozens of veterans departed Piedmont Triad International Airport. The plane took off with a water cannon salute.
“All these people were there, and I thought, they're there for me!” Cooper said.
Triad Honor Flight was founded in 2020, according to Alison Huber, the executive director and chief passionate volunteer of the regional program.
The nonprofit has had six missions with about 600 veterans. Veterans 65 years or older or others who have special circumstances such as a terminal illness or a pairing with an older veteran are able to attend the trip for free.
During the day trip in Washington, the group visits the World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Lincoln and Iwo Jima memorials. The group also participates in the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington.
“Me and another fellow were part of the laying the wreath at Arlington," Cooper said. "They took us up. The soldiers placed a wreath, and we put our hands on that."
Cooper has been to Washington before but not to the World War II Memorial.
“I just thought how wonderful it was and what a great job they did,” he said.
According to the National WW II Musuem in New Orleans, less than 1% of the 16.4 million Americans who served in WWII are still alive today. In 2023, 3,577 of these veterans were living in N.C.
Cooper says he was the oldest WWII veteran on the trip and wishes he could’ve stayed longer.
Huber says Triad Honor Flight is completely volunteer-led and raises close to a quarter of a million dollars for two flights a year.
In North Carolina, there are multiple Honor Flight programs, according to the Honor Flight Network, with hubs in Hendersonville, Wilmington, Weddington and Greensboro.
Triad Honor Flight’s next trip will be Oct. 2.