Since 2016, Buffalo-Niagara Honor Flight has provided complimentary round-trip travel to Washington, D.C. for more than 1,000 local veterans. But it’s only been a few weeks since they moved into a new headquarters, on Wehrle Road in Clarence.
Tom Petrie, president of Buffalo-Niagara Honor Flight, says it will be more than offices. It will be another space for veterans to call their own.
“It's still a work in progress, and our dream is to make it a place where veterans can come to meet their comrades, to have something to eat, sit in what we're going to call the library, the other conference room, play cards, and just have camaraderie with their fellow heroes,” he said late into a ceremony held July 22 within the facility.
On this occasion, families who donated flags to decorate the headquarters gathered for a dedication ceremony. In all, eight flags were presented. One was the United States flag. Another was the POW-MIA flag. The other six were the flags of every branch of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force.
One by one, donors offered remarks before placing a small plaque at the base of each flag. Petrie dedicated the Army flag in memory of his father, Lt. Colonel Harold Petrie.
“He served in World War II, and received a battlefield commission at the Battle of the Bulge,” he said. “He served proudly right through Vietnam, and we never knew until after he passed away the reason he stayed active in the National Guard was to protect my brother and I, who were draft age during Vietnam, to prevent us from going to war and seeing the horrors that he saw.”
Surviving relatives, or living veterans themselves, took turns dedicating each flag. Sydney Hansel represented her family. She explained her parents were unable to travel for the event. She dedicated the Space Force flag in honor of her brother, Sgt. Timothy Hensel, who is now stationed in Japan working in cybersecurity.
“He considered the military after graduation from high school, but went on to first complete a four-year degree,” She explained. “Following his completion, he was unsure what direction to take and decided once again to return to the dream of military service. He has grown immensely from the training he has received. He has gone from a soft-spoken individual seeking direction to an eloquent orator and leader.”
Board member Pat Smith served as emcee for the ceremony. She also dedicated the final flag in the ceremony, the POW-MIA flag. She reported that, officially, no American service members were currently held as prisoners of war. But thousands remain Missing in Action.
“Approximately 80,782 American service members and civilians remain officially unaccounted for, missing in action, from conflicts dating from World War II to the present day,” Smith said.
Buffalo-Niagara Honor Flight has completed 23 trips to the nation’s capital. Its next mission is scheduled for October.
