Scott Swanson
Les Stiles had never heard about the Honor Flight program until he saw a newspaper report about it and realized that he could qualify.
Stiles, 86, served in the Navy at the end of World War II, then in the Korean War, though he never got close to actual combat. The Honor Flight’s stated mission is to “transport America’s veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit those memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices.” The South Willamette Valley Honor Flight, based in Eugene, has taken four tours of veterans, numbering between 50 and 60 each, to the capital since last October.
Stiles’ group traveled from Portland International Airport to D.C. on Oct. 3 and returned Oct. 6 to a hero’s welcome.
He said the veterans were warmly welcomed and given the royal treatment during the entire trip. In Washington, volunteer motorcyclists “from all over the nation” escorted their two buses to the World War II Memorial, their first stop.
Accompanied by a police escort and the motorcyclists, “we went through red lights and everything,” he said.
“The motorcycle volunteers who escorted us did this because they wanted to make sure the vets would get to see some memorials.”
The Honor Flight program got nationwide attention two weeks ago, shortly before Stiles’ group left PDX for Washington, when the federal government shutdown prompted National Park Service employees to block access to the World War II Memorial on the Mall for Honor Flight groups from other states. Elderly veterans pushed their way through police barricades on Oct. 1 to get to the open-air memorial, with help from some members of Congress who intervened.
“We got a big reception there,” he said. “Hundreds. Everybody knew about the Honor Flight.”
He said laid-off federal employees stood outside the memorials “and talked to us.”
Stiles, who with his wife Lorraine, lives with his daughter and son-in-law, Julia and Rick Ellingson in Sweet Home, said his group of veterans and escorts, called “guardians,” had no problems, although they couldn’t get into the Marine or Women’s Service memorials. But during their four-day trip, they were able to visit the Vietnam and Air Force memorials, the Navy Memorial and Museum, the World War II Memorial and Arlington Cemetery, where they witnessed a changing of the guard and the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
At the World War II Memorial Rep. Peter DeFazio presented them with folded American flags and certificates honoring them for their service. Stiles said he also came home with a sheaf of letters written by family members and others, including some writers he didn’t know personally, thanking him for his service.
While they were there, former Linn County Clerk Del Riley, 88, and his grandson Brent Riley, 26, who is currently stationed in Afghanistan, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Stiles was born and raised in upper New York state and was drafted by the Army in October of 1945. He joined the Navy instead and was trained as an electronics specialist at Treasure Island, near Alcatraz, in the San Francisco Bay. After finishing 13 months of specialized training in radar, sonar and radio equipment, he became an instructor in the program.
Leaving active duty after two years, he signed on for the inactive reserve and was called up for duty after the Korean War broke out.
He served 16 months on the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier out of Norfolk, Va., spending a lot of time on the Atlantic and “touring the Mediterranean.”
“In a way, I don’t feel I deserve all the credit we got on the Honor Flight,” Stiles said. “But for seven years I was enlisted. They could do anything they wanted with me. I served. So I don’t feel guilty about it.”
After earning a mechanical engineering degree by attending night school while working for General Electric, he continued with GE, and then switched to a company that provided GE with insulating paper. That firm was later purchased by Weyerhaeuser and the Stileses eventually moved to Washington, where they lived until he retired in 1991 after 33 years with Weyerhaeuser, he said.
He and Lorraine eventually moved in with Julia and Rick in Hillsboro, then moved to Sweet Home when Rick became pastor at Cornerstone Fellowship.
His daughter and wife, and his son David Stiles were present to welcome him home at PDX on Oct. 6.
The trip was a “highlight of my life,” Les Stiles said. “It was overwhelming. I just couldn’t comprehend what was going on with the greeting we got there.
“You hear about so many protests and people against the basic principles of our country. These people didn’t feel that way. They supported us. They were thankful for our service.”
Though he’d been to Washington before, he said, he had never visited the war memorials.
Connecting with other veterans was big too.
“This was a great bunch of guys,” he said. “As they say, we were the ‘Greatest Generation.’ Many times, the things that went on brought tears to my eyes. I’m a very patriotic person and I’m even more so after this. This made me very proud of my country.”