Honor Flight Long Island hosted the 19th annual Spring Honor Flight last Saturday, an all-expenses-paid day trip from MacArthur Airport to Washington, D.C., for area veterans who have not had the chance to see the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War memorials.
Malverne residents Donald Brady and Stuart Gelband were among the 46 participants. Vietnam War veterans of the Army and Navy, respectively, Brady and Gelband signed up for the flight together. They live a few blocks away from each other and are brothers-in-law.
Gelband was initially hesitant to go on the trip because, he said, “I'm not a hero. I consider my brother to be a hero, who actually fought in combat for periods of time.” Gelband’s older brother also served in the Vietnam war. “He died young,” he said. “He came home with a lot of issues. So that weighed on me before I thought about doing this.”
Brady encouraged Gelband to go on the flight with him, and Gelband relented, wanting to see the memorials himself, but also to honor his brother. “I finally yielded and said I’d do it, with some intrepidation,” he said.
“I’m going to go think about my brother, and hopefully feel less guilty about doing it,” Gelband added. “I do feel guilty that he never got the full recognition, but all he wanted was to be left alone. I’ll go think of him like I do every year when we have Memorial Day and Veterans Day.”
Gelband served on the USS Intrepid during his time in the Navy, from 1970 to 1972. After returning to the US, he worked with the U.S. Postal Service for 35 years as an operation programs analyst.
Gelband is also a member of the Intrepid’s Former Crew Member Association, including a four-year stint as its president, and continues to volunteer at the Intrepid Museum.
“Basically, my life came full circle with the Intrepid,” Gelband said. “It’s become a huge part of my life, even after all these years.”
Brady was a welding specialist in the Army, and served in Vietnam for a year. After returning home in 1971, he earned a degree at Queens College, eventually became the New England regional manager for with Mack Trucks, and retired in 2013. Brady’s wife, Barbara died in 2024.
“I feel very honored to go — I’ve never gone to see all the monuments,” Brady said of the Honor Flight. “For the first 20 years out of the service, we weren’t recognized, so it’s a good feeling that servicemen and women are finally being honored.”
Brady said he appreciates the camaraderie among Vietnam veterans, and veterans in general. He is a member of Malverne’s American Legion Post 44. “You meet guys who served at all different times, and from all different ranks,” he said. “You have that in common that you can talk about, and that people outside your circle don’t understand.”
The Honor Flight program was created in 2005 by Earl Morse and Jeff Miller, a year after the World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington. The organization’s mission was to take veterans who didn’t otherwise have the means to visit to the memorial on flights to see it.
Honor Flight Long Island was established in 2007, by Chris Cosich, of Amagansett who served as its president until he died in 2014, and was succeeded by Bill Jones, of Southhampton.
“The first honor flight, Long Island, flight took place in October of 2007,” Jones said. “And so we have been around since then, and we have flown over 2,200 veterans from Nassau and Suffolk County.”
Jones laments the way the country treated Vietnam veterans when they came home from the war, but appreciates the fact that they are no longer maligned for their service in the divisive conflict. “When they came back, they could not talk about their experience over there,” he said. “Finally, the general public is really trying to make up for that wrong by welcoming them home.”
Jones plans to organize Honor Flights for veterans of more recent wars soon. Many World War II and Korean War veterans are gone, so he plans to open registration to veterans who fought in the Middle East. “Absolutely, we will be opening it up to Gulf War and Afghanistan veterans,” Jones said. “All of those people involved in the War on Terror will also be a part of our program for sure.”
