Welcome back, heroes

SPOKANE — Bob Banta Sr. knew there were secrets when he served in the Army in the Korean War, but the secret he came upon in Washington, D.C., took the cake.

While on the two-day Honor Flight of the Inland Northwest trip, Banta's grandson, Leon Greene, met him in the nation's capital.

"That really got me; it was a big surprise," an emotional Banta said on Tuesday night at Spokane International Airport after making his way through roughly 600 people cheering 93 veterans from the region who visited war memorials in their honor.

Greene is stationed in Virginia in the Navy and had the opportunity to meet and surprise his grandfather.

"It was really an honor to go back there," Banta said. "I'd never been back there before."

Banta had good company on the trip. He was accompanied by friend, fellow Coeur d'Alene resident, VFW member and Korean War veteran Joe Corege.

Banta called the welcome-home celebration "unbelievable." The gathering featured a band, honor guards and friends and families waving flags and signs.

Corege, who served in the Navy, said the veterans were also greeted after they landed at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., on Monday, "but it was nothing like this."

"This is something else," he said, fighting back tears. "It makes me feel really proud."

Corege said his last trip to D.C. was in 1991. It was an opportunity to celebrate, heal and remember.

"I saw some monuments that I missed in the past, including the Navy and World War II memorials," he said. "It was really a special time and the weather was good."

As Joan Corege, Joe's wife, waited for her husband to make his way through the spirited crowd, she debated whether to cross the temporary barrier to give him a hug and kiss due to so much excitement. When she spotted him, her instincts kicked in and she followed through.

"It's like a party," Joan said, moments before the veterans arrived.

Joan said she and Banta's wife, Anita, wanted to support not only their husbands but all veterans.

"We made signs for the ones we love, but it also gives us a chance to say thank you to all the heroes who aren't here anymore," Joan said. "There are veterans who died who nobody knows. It means a lot to say thank you."

The nonprofit Honor Flight has escorted more than 1,300 veterans to the nation's capital since it began six years ago. World War II veterans were initially given preference due to their age, but recent trips have been opened to veterans of other wars.

Joan said Bob and Joe signed up for Honor Flight, which is free to vets, about six months ago and was honored to be chosen for the trip.

"Joe is a patriot who is very fervent about his country," Joan said. "He wants what's best for his country."

Anita said Bob decided to apply for the trip after his 95-year-old brother and Pearl Harbor veteran went on an earlier Honor Flight.

"It really turned out great that the both of them (Bob and Joe) got to go together," she said. "It means a lot to them."