Memorable Honor Flight Experience for Brother Gabby Hayes

When you’ve fought a thankless war, it takes only a seemingly small gesture to bring you to tears.

From 1964 to 1973, the draft took 2.2 million Americans to Vietnam. Soldiers who did as they were told were hated, heaved at and called names. They were instructed to follow the rules even though their enemy had no rules. It was a hopeless situation and the soldiers who returned would never forget or be the same again.

Those who are still standing today often feel robbed of any recognition or a simple thank you. That is, until the Honor Flight of the Quad Cities (HFQC) began a mission to do something about it. Started in 2008 as a local chapter of the Honor Flight Network, HFQC’s mission is to fly our community’s veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honoring their sacrifices. The larger intention is to honor our local and regional heroes who were selfless in their military duty with a complementary trip to visit their memorials.

“Anyone who had anything to do with the Honor Flight made our lives worthwhile because they said thank you," said Danny “Gabby” Hayes, retired Local 25 member who took part in the latest flight on May 2. "It was finally the thanks we never got and the recognition that we did a good job even though we didn’t win the war."

Gabby further explained that mail call was what he and his comrades looked forward to the most while away at war. Of the 160+ veterans aboard the May 2 flight, all received letters. Some from family and friends and others from elementary school kids.

“They got creative and used our emergency contacts to enlist handwritten letters without our knowing. They were specific to request them to be addressed to our respective ranks, so mine were written to Sergeant Danny L. Hayes,” Gabby recalled. “It was very touching and hard to understand how kids in 3rd grade with pencils could make grown men cry.”

Not only were there hundreds of people to greet them in D.C., but Gabby also explained how the Quad Cities International Airport was lined with everyone from lieutenants, colonels, sergeants and G.I.s to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and wall-to-wall civilians. Not to mention local businesses such as Whitey’s Ice Cream and so many others in a massive show of support.

“There had to be 500 people there all in tears yelling ‘thank you for your service, welcome home’ and the soldiers saluted every one of us,” he said through his tears. “They didn’t have to do that, but they did it and it meant something!”

Until now, there were two things that Gabby feels made his efforts in the service worthwhile. First, he was able to become a journeymen with Local Union 25 upon his return thanks to the Veterans Administration, which applied any time worked in the trades while serving to their apprenticeships. Today, there are programs such as the United Association Veterans in Piping (UAVIP) and Helmets to Hardhats (H2H), designed to connect transitioning soldiers and vets with skilled training and career opportunities in the trades.

“The unions found a way to thank us soldiers even before these other amazing programs existed. The idea was that if you were in the service and working in the trades, the union would give you so much time off your apprenticeship. Now, soldiers can test out to become journeyman quicker based on how much they learned in the service,” Gabby said. “When we got back in 1969, we all went back to the classroom to finish our apprenticeships, but they came in and told us we were done and could start work immediately. Many of us had wives and children and we needed the income. I started out as a steamfitter and my pay went from $1.66/hour to $6/hour. What VIP and H2H do for soldiers today is incredible!”

Gabby is also grateful that many of his children and grandchildren – seven in total - have joined the U.S. Air Force. He credits the service for helping his family make a great life.

“The service has done a lot for our family. When I joined, 90% of us were drafted but my kids and grandkids are willingly signing up, so they have come a long way,” Gabby said.

We salute you, Sergeant Danny “Gabby” L. Hayes!