“I Didn’t Expect This”
Tom Burns, a Veteran on our November 2025 trip wrote this beautiful poem about his Honor Flight experience. We read it on the plane and everyone was very moved.
I didn’t expect to feel this much.
Not now.
I thought it would be a quiet trip—
a box I could finally check off.
Say I’d gone, paid my respects,
and come home the same.
But even before takeoff,
the airport was filled with clapping—
hands like distant gunfire,
and for a second, I couldn’t breathe.
Not from pride,
but from memory.
After all these years,
someone was still waiting.
I thought of my brother—
Sgt. James P. Burns.
A Battery, 2nd Battalion,
11th Artillery, 101st Airborne Division.
Killed in Vietnam, September 2, 1968.
At the Vietnam Wall,
I knew where to go.
Panel W45, Line 24.
There it was—his name,
first in the row,
like he was still leading the way.
I reached out
and touched the stone.
The stone was cool,
but his name felt warm—
like a heartbeat
I’d almost forgotten.
I traced each letter
as if I were saying,
I’m sorry.
Thank you.
God, I miss you.
All at once.
No one asked me what I was feeling.
But my sister—she knew.
And that was enough.
During this trip,
I found a piece of myself
I thought was gone—
buried fifty years ago
in the jungle,
in the silence,
in the grief I never learned to name.
I didn’t expect this and I could never express,
my thank you enough.
But maybe that’s the point—
We’re not forgotten.
We never were.
Wow. That is powerful. Must have had to bring out an extra box of kleenex. Hugs to all who support Honor Flight. It is my honor as a veteran to participate as a guardian until my day comes to wear the yellow shirt.
Very well written! Very hard to lose someone in the Vietnam war! And when the war was over know one cared! That was the hardest part! They were forgotten! They also are the ones we should be proud of!
All of us that went on the HONOR FLIGHT appreciate what you have done for us! It is hard to express how much we appreciate what you have done for us . But you will always be remembered!