Oklahoma father and son bond through Oklahoma Warriors Honor Flight
WASHINGTON (KOKH) — The Oklahoma Warriors Honor Flight gives back, with an expense paid trip to the Capitol for veterans like Harold Dunlap
"I’m excited about being here. This is my first time,” Harold said. “What’s there not to be excited about?”
There is one catch. Every veteran needs a guardian to help them through the trip, so who better for Harold’s guardian than his biggest fan, his son Aaron.
"It’s really hard for me to not cry right now because I’m just as excited as he is,” Aaron said. “This is also a bucket list for me.”
On the steps of the Marine Corps War Memorial, Harold shares some of the history he learned from his multiple tours of duty during the Vietnam War.
“I was just telling my son here, ‘See that last person extending his arm toward the flagpole?’ I believe that supposed to be the Indian Ira Hayes,’” Harold said.
Harold’s service in California, Hawaii, and the Marshall Islands is not always a major point of discussion between the two.
“Sometimes we do talk about what I have done during my time in the service,” Harold said. “I was assigned to the USS St Louis a cargo ship out of Long Beach California.”
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The weight of the burden carried by those years ago is well understood by the future generation of the Dunlap family
"Overwhelming, just a sense of pride knowing that if it weren’t for him or any of these veterans we would be able to do this today," Aaron said.
From one monument to the next, you can feel the overwhelming passion passed down from one generation to another, through a shared experience neither of them will ever forget
“Being able to do this with my dad is the best thing ever,” Aaron said. “I could die right now and I’d be just fine.”
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