LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Navy veteran Carl Wright was proud to go with other Nevada veterans to tour war memorials in the Washington D.C. area in April.
FOX5 traveled with the group and talked to Wright several times.
“Oh, it’s been an honor. This Honor Flight is so well organized,” Wright told FOX5 during the trip.
Wright flew off aircraft carriers as part of his service in the Navy, which he says included the USS Kitty Hawk and USS America.
He told FOX5 during the Honor Flight trip that he flew around 140 missions during the Vietnam War in an F-4 Phantom, mostly bombing runs in North Vietnam. He spoke about one run where several anti-aircraft guns were firing at their plane as they moved in to take out a bridge.
“It looked like a bed of tracers coming within feet of the airplane. I don’t know how we made it out, but we did,” said Wright.
Wright says the pilot didn’t turn on a switch to release the bombs.
“We had to go back around. That was scary,” said Wright.
He added, “It was a bed of bullets coming at you.”
Wright and the group toured several war memorials and saw the changing or the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. He was amazed at all the people who said thank you during the trip, including when they arrived in the D.C. area and then returned home in Las Vegas.
There were tears in his eyes on the plane ride back to Nevada. Veterans received a packet of cards and letters from family back home in what’s called “Mail Call.”
“Friends of mine and people I know sending these. And just reading one or two makes your eyes water,” said Wright.
FOX5 cameras captured a big smile on Carl Wright’s face as the official song of the Navy, Anchors Aweigh, was played at the Las Vegas homecoming.
Carl Wright was 81 years old.
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