Dream Flights lacking a certain something, participant alleges

Ninety-year-old Army veteran of the Korean War Joseph Tetrault came back down to earth on Friday after participating in the Dream Flights Program in Norwood with just one, small complaint.

“It was lonely, there were no women up there!” he said, laughing. “I was like, ‘What is this? They shoot you up there where there’s no women!’ I’m going back to work on the stage.”

“I had so much fun, don’t matter what I say,” he said. “It was good you know.”

When asked if he liked the open cockpit, he had a simple answer.

“No,” he said. “That’s an honest thing. But it was a great experience.”

Tetrault said he worked with a physical therapist to be able to get into the cockpit of the World War II-era training plane that Dream Flight took him up in. He served in Germany and Italy in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954, and then moved back to Sharon to work as an engineer at Metal Bellows in Sharon.

Tetrault’s daughter Jeannie Higgins and his grandson Cam Higgins said they were so happy he got to get up there, despite the “loneliness” factor.

“It’s emotional,” Jeannie said. “So proud of him. Just amazing to see him accomplish just getting in the plane.”

“He did a good job, we’re so proud of him,” Cam said.

When asked if she wanted to get up in a biplane someday, Jeannie Higgins said she had a similar experience once, and doesn’t want to repeat even that.

“When I was young I went on a small six-seater plane over the White Mountains,” she said. The White Mountains in New Hampshire have the distinction of having literally the worst weather on the planet. “Because I was so young then, 13, I didn’t really think about it. But this? Now? I don’t think I’d have the guts to do it. When I was 13, it didn’t even faze us.”

Cam Higgins said “Maybe?” to going up in the biplane someday.

Ninety-five-year-old Joan Stafford went up in the training plane next. She flew in honor of her late husband, Robert Stafford, who was also an army veteran.

“Of course it brought back memories of my husband and his interest in flying,” she said, and her daughter added that her husband actually learned to fly right here at the Norwood Memorial Airport.

Dream Flights is a nonprofit organization that spans the country, pairing volunteer flight teams with veteran seniors. Flight Crew Chief David Schwark said he and pilot Jeff Klosky both have day jobs, but they volunteer their time with Dream Flights because of the mission.

“We’re all volunteers – Jeff’s a pilot for American Airlines, I work for the Department of Defense and I’m former U.S. Air Force – and what we do when we have time available is we go to the locations. Jeff and I both flew commercial yesterday, and what we do then is make sure the airplane is good to go, and we got up this morning and we’re going to fly today.”

Schwark said he lives in Maryland and Klosky lives in Colorado. He said they really believe in the mission.

Advertisement

“Dream Flights is a nonprofit, and our CEO founder Darryl Fisher is in the senior living business and he’s a pilot, and that’s really how it all started years ago,” he said. “He was getting an airplane refurbished, was coming back and dropped into one of his facilities nearby and wanted to give a World War II veteran he had a flight, and afterwards said he just had to keep doing it. And so here we are 14 or 15 years later, doing the same thing. We just hit our 8,000th flyer last year.”

Schwark said the crew is always moving and is part of a team delivering flights to veterans across the country, every day.

“We have eight planes in the mission, and on any given day there are about four or five around the country that are flying,” he said. “We just go from airport to airport to airport. Today we’re in Norwood and tomorrow we’re in Fitchburg, and then another pilot is going to come in and take it down to Tennessee. That’s just what we do.”

Resident Joe Finneran said he went up last year as part of Dream Flights, and absolutely loved it.

“It was fantastic,” he said. “It’s just unforgettable. I really enjoyed it.”

Alliance Health and Human Services Director of Talent Acquisitions Director and Air Force Veteran Al Bailey emceed the day, playing high flying hits throughout the day. He played the Superman theme each time the plane was taking off. He said Dream Flights reached out to the company when he and Director of Marketing Carly Ring first started.

“So we started going to our nine facilities and looking to see how many veterans we had and if we had them, find out if they were interested in a Dream Flight,” he said. “But I tell this story all the time, when you start talking military and their pictures start coming out and we start telling them it’s a WWII plane and most of them, including me, have never been on one. So their families come too, and it’s a pretty big deal, because many family members didn’t get to see grandpa when he was on active duty. I’ve seen everything from tears to laughter and lots of celebration.”