Badger Honor Flights ensure that World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and terminally ill veterans from any war have the opportunity to see the memorials that have been erected in their honor in Washington, D.C. As a volunteer photographer for the Badger Honor Flights, Madison-area photographer Shalicia Johnson has had numerous opportunities to accompany the veterans to Washington, D.C., after she finishes taking their pictures.
On Saturday, Nov. 8, she finally accepted the invitation to go with 87 Wisconsin veterans and their guardians to the nation’s capital, and it ended up changing her life when her personal hero, former President Barack Obama, made a surprise visit on board the plane after it touched down in Washington, D.C.
“Nothing in my life can ever top this,” Johnson tells Madison365. “Even days after, I’m still a bit in shock … still in disbelief.”
Over the last few years, Johnson, the owner of ArrowStar Photography, has been a volunteer photographer with the Badger Honor Flights, an endeavor she says she really enjoys, having had military members in her own family. For this job, she usually wakes up well before the crack of dawn to begin to prepare for her role of photographing each veteran in front of the American flag.
“Then they have a little program. And so I photograph the program at large, and then after the program, I go upstairs and I photograph each veteran with their guardian who’s accompanying them on the flight,” Johnson says. “So I photograph them together, and then I usually go home and sleep at 7 a.m.”
Brian Ziegler, the chairperson of the board of directors for the Badger Honor Flight, had offered Johnson a seat on the flight three or four times in the past, but each time Johnson had a work commitment that day, so she couldn’t go. But this Saturday was a different story.
“So this past time was the only time I’ve been able to go on the Badger Honor Flight. I got there at 4 a.m. that morning and I did my thing, photographing all the veterans, doing the program, and capturing them with their guardians,” Johnson says. “And then I got on the plane.”
As they arrived at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., and sat on the plane, a voice came over the PA system asking everyone to be seated because an announcement was about to be made. Johnson says, “They came on the loudspeaker and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special guest today … an old friend who wants to welcome you to D.C.’”
That was when she first heard President Obama’s voice. “My heart stops. My rational brain is like, ‘Oh, well, that was really sweet that he recorded this for us,'” Johnson remembers. “And then Jody McClain, who is director of flight operations for the Badger Honor Flight, was sitting by me, says, ‘Shalicia, it’s Barack Obama!’ And she points to the front of the plane. I went into straight panic mode, and I was buckled in, and I couldn’t get my seat belt undone.”
President Obama stood at the front of the plane and greeted every veteran on that plane while presenting them with a Presidential Challenge Coin.
“One of the honors of serving as President is having the ‘Presidential Challenge Coin’ — a memento that I have handed out as President and in the years since to the folks I meet who have served our country or their communities,” President Obama would say in a statement. “I was grateful to be able to greet veterans who served in Korea and Vietnam as they arrived in DC this weekend, and give them a personal token of my gratitude.”
Johnson says that President Obama also gave each of the Vietnam War veterans a letter and a pin commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.
As Johnson made her way to the front of the plane, she says she was still in disbelief and extremely nervous.
“I couldn’t believe my president is standing right there on this airplane. And I thought I could have died right there on the spot,” she remembers. “I was so excited and still in shock that when he asked me my name, I was surprised that it came out.
“Then I actually made him drop a [Presidential] Challenge Coin he was attempting to give me that I didn’t even know was in his hand. So he has to go fetch it as it rolls away on the ground, and I’m mortified,” Johnson continues, laughing. “He hands it to me, and said, “You’re gonna need this.’ He put his arm around me, and then somebody from his staff took our photo, and then, literally, I walked away.”
The veterans, for their part, were greeted in Washington, D.C. with a band and a ton of people welcoming them and cheering with signs that thanked them and welcomed them to D.C. The veterans from Wisconsin toured Arlington National Cemetery and got a chance to see some of the war memorials dedicated to their service before they took a big group picture in front of the US Marine Corps. War Memorial.
Johnson hugged Ziegler and thanked him for the experience as soon as she saw him after they landed.
(Photo by Shalicia Johnson)
“I walked through that little section, and I stopped to catch my breath, because I was literally shaking and looking at the coin in my hand and just still trying to breathe. My heart was racing, and I still can’t believe that happened,” Johnson says.
“I thought about it, and I believe that the universe and the goodness that you put in the world always comes back. My grandfather was a World War II veteran with the 126th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Gun Battalion, and he wasn’t able to go on the Honor Flight before he passed away, and so I immediately intuitively knew that my grandpa was in cahoots with the universe to allow this to happen for me. Of all the flights I could have gone on, this was the one that I chose? There’s no way that this was just a happy little coincidence.”
On the flight, Johnson also formed a lifelong connection with a Vietnam War veteran, Sergeant John Suckerman, whom she says she “adopted” for the flight.
(Photo by Carrie Suckerman)
“For some reason, my soul needed to connect with this man,” she says. “And so I just kept checking on him throughout the day and making sure he was having a great time, and that he loved the welcome in D.C. because Vietnam War veterans did not get that welcome when they returned from war to the United States back in the day.”
Later that day, the veterans would return to Wisconsin, where over 500 people gathered at the Dane County Regional Airport to welcome them home. “It was a highly emotional experience, and a great way to cap off a day I will never forget,” Johnson says.
The Honor Flight program has been in operation for 20 years, with hubs in 46 states, and has served over 317,100 veterans over that time. The flight is 100 percent free for the veteran.
“These vets just mean so much to me, and it’s a really sad thing when somebody calls my attention to the obituary section, because a lot of these vets’ families use the portrait of the veterans that I took of them before they got on the Honor Flight,” Johnson says.
“If you see a veteran who has a portrait in front of the American flag, there’s a good chance that I took that at the airport before one of the greatest days of their lives,” she continues. “I’m honored to be able to provide that service for them, too.”
In the meantime, Johnson says she will never forget the special day she shared with the 67 Wisconsin veterans and President Barack Obama.
“It’s not just that it was a thrill and an incredible experience. It was historic,” Johnson says. “We were literally part of history being made. I still can’t wrap my head around that.”
