Benchmark Happenings
Brought to you by, Jonathan Tipton & Steve Reed of Benchmark Home Loans, Benchmark Happenings is a podcast that is a biweekly discussion about living in and moving to Northeast Tennessee along with the local real estate market. Join your host Christine Reed as she interviews Jonathan & Steve, local business owners, sought-after industry experts, Veterans, Realtors, Benchmark clients, and more.
Benchmark Happenings focuses on discussing all things related to mortgages and Northeast Tennessee. Placing the spotlight on all the reasons you would want to live in and move to Northeast Tennessee, Benchmark Happenings highlights upcoming events, local businesses, things to do, and other aspects related to Northeast Tennessee. We will also be answering mortgage questions from buyers, sellers, and real estate agents as well as discussing everything going on in our local real estate market.
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.tiptonreedteam.com.
Benchmark Home Loans | NMLS # 2143
4138 Bristol Highway
Johnson City, TN 37601
Jonathan Tipton
Senior Mortgage Planner
NMLS # 1188088
jonathan.tipton@benchmark.us
Steve Reed
Branch Manager
NMLS # 173024
steve.reed@benchmark.us
Benchmark Happenings
A Trip of a Lifetime: How the Honor Flight Program Changes Veterans' Lives
Freedom isn't free—a truth Michelle Stewart and the Honor Flight program understand deeply. As president of Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands, Michelle has dedicated herself to giving veterans the recognition they earned through their service and sacrifice.
What began as a Facebook message from a high school friend in 2021 has transformed into a mission that's touched hundreds of veterans' lives throughout Northeast Tennessee. Michelle reveals the powerful journey these veterans experience during their three-day Honor Flight trips to Washington DC. From the moment they board the bus amid motorcycle escorts and flag-waving supporters, these veterans—many who never received proper recognition upon returning home—are finally given the "welcome home" they deserved decades ago.
The itinerary is both exhaustive and emotionally charged. Veterans visit Arlington Cemetery for wreath-laying ceremonies, tour memorials dedicated to their specific conflicts, and experience the camaraderie of fellow servicemembers who truly understand their experiences. For Vietnam veterans especially, who often faced hostility rather than gratitude upon their return, these trips heal wounds carried for half a century. As Michelle poignantly shares, "We want to change that. We want to give them that welcome home."
Perhaps most touching is the Memorial Mission program, where photographs of deceased veterans are carried throughout the journey, ensuring those who never had the chance to participate are still honored at every memorial. "You die your first death when you leave this earth," Michelle explains, "but as long as your name is spoken, you don't ever die a second death." Through these missions, veterans' sacrifices are acknowledged, their stories preserved, and their service celebrated.
With approximately 50,000 Vietnam veterans nationwide still waiting for their Honor Flight opportunity, Michelle and her team rely on community support to continue their mission. Follow their journey on Facebook and Instagram at Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands or email gotodc@honorflightah.org to discover how you can help honor those who gave so much for our freedom.
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com.
This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Jonathan and Steve from Benchmark Home Loans. Northeast Tennessee, johnson City, kingsport, bristol, the Tri-Cities One of the most beautiful places in the country to live. Tons of great things to do and awesome local businesses. And on this show you'll find out why people are dying to move to Northeast Tennessee. And on the way we'll have discussions about mortgages and we'll interview people in the real estate industry. It's what we do. This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Benchmark Home Loans and now your host, christine Reed. And now your host, christine Reed.
Speaker 2:Welcome back everybody to another episode of Benchmark Happenings, and the star of our show today is Michelle Stewart. Michelle, welcome, Thank you so much for having me. Christine, Absolutely. And so, Michelle, what we're going to talk about today is the volunteer work that you do for our area veterans with the Honor Flight.
Speaker 3:Yes, ma'am, I am the president of Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands, an organization that's been founded since September 2021. And our whole goal is to honor veterans for their service and their sacrifice and to take them to Washington DC to see the memorials that were erected to honor their service by a grateful, thankful nation.
Speaker 2:Oh, I tell you that is what you all are doing, michelle. You are touching lives. I mean, if I think about it too much, I'll start crying, because we had an experience with Honor Flight.
Speaker 3:You did and we had a wonderful experience with Mr Reed. I think he smiled the whole time and he had such a good time.
Speaker 2:He is quite the character, but he was so much fun to be on that trip with and just so jolly and so amazed that people were taking their time to honor him for his service and his sacrifice and he deserved that, yeah, he actually, I mean, he starts crying when he talks about it because it meant so much to him and it was so wonderful that Steve, my husband, steve, his son, could go with him as his guardian. And so I just think, honor Flight, you know, I'm so thankful it's been established. There's several venues throughout the country that men and women are taking. So, basically, the requirements for this, michelle, what are they?
Speaker 3:We can take a veteran, whether they've served stateside or in-country, or whether they've just served in the National Guard. Those men and women took an oath to serve and protect. So we will honor any veteran that has served in any branch, regardless of time. The only thing is, right now we are only serving up through Vietnam era or terminally ill veterans. The reason why is, I think, we don't stop and realize how many Vietnam veterans there were and how many are on waiting lists to go on an Honor Flight trip. For example, here in the Tri-Cities area we have about 110 Vietnam veterans waiting to travel and they've applied and we're just getting to them. Across the nation with all Honor Flight hubs, there's about 50,000 Vietnam veterans. So that's why we've kind of stopped at Vietnam veterans. But we also want to take terminally ill veterans from other wars that may not get the opportunity to go.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You know, and I think the veterans from Vietnam did not get the welcome home that they deserved. I know that one of the gentlemen that's a friend of ours that went. He was a little just shy about going because of the experience that he had, but you all changed his life. Awesome, I'm so glad to hear that you did.
Speaker 3:We say on the bus coming home my last words to them before we pull in is, on behalf of a grateful nation and the Honor Flight Board of Directors Welcome Home. So we want to change that. We want to give them that welcome home, because so many of them were treated so poorly and they were just doing what their country asked them to do.
Speaker 3:They didn't understand what they were being sent to Vietnam for. Most of them were so young, they probably didn't even know where it was on the map, but yet their country needed them and their country sent them and they went and did what they were asked to do. Yes, and how they were treated when they come home was so horrible and so horrific that if we can change it, then we should be changing it, and if an honor flight trip does it, it makes my heart happy that we can do that.
Speaker 2:So, Michelle, what got you started doing this, serving the area veterans?
Speaker 3:I have always served the community in some fashion. I'm just a strong believer in community is home. You should make your community better. But in August of 2021, I had a high school friend that sent me a Facebook message and he wanted to talk to me about a project and I kind of pushed him off for a few days because that's what we women do.
Speaker 3:We're just like, oh, I'm going to ignore that. Well, we've got enough. Yeah, we've got enough on our plate. Yeah, we've got enough on our plate. What's he wanting from me? I'm not interested. But so he sent me a message and said would you call me? I want to talk to you about something. So I called him and he started telling me about the impact he had with his dad on Honor Flight Trip. They had been and it was amazing, and he just wanted other veterans to have that opportunity and unfortunately there was not a hub operating here in the Tri-Cities at that time. So he wanted to reestablish Honor Flight in our area. So he's trying to find a couple of people to help him. So he asked me if I'd be willing to do it and I said oh, let me pray about it, let me think about it.
Speaker 3:My dad's a Vietnam veteran and my initial thought in my mind was I'll get my dad to go and it'll be a great experience for the two of us. So I prayed about it and I really thought that was where the Lord was sending me is to Honor Flight. So I said yes and we had our first board meeting and I was elected president and I wasn't expecting that. But you know, I believe in where the Lord puts you. You should serve. So that's how that came about. But Honor Flight for me is just a way to respect my dad's service and my granddad's both served in World War II in the Army.
Speaker 3:Oh, my goodness, and then my husband's 82nd Airborne, so he is a veteran from 82nd Airborne and I'm just like it's what I should do as a grateful American and I live in the greatest country in the world we do, so I should be serving those who served.
Speaker 2:And I love that, you know, I love the fact that you love our country and I love America too. I agree. I think we do live in the greatest country God has blessed us to put us here.
Speaker 1:And it.
Speaker 2:Just it really hurts my heart to hear people put down our country and you know they're just been told so many lies and just manipulated, believing that all the things that we've done as a nation and we've been one of the most generous nations in the world and the creation of the education system, hospitals, orphanages, I mean so many things that our country has done, and then, plus, our veterans are amazing veterans, are men and women that have served for our country has done. And then, plus our veterans, our amazing veterans, our men and women that have served for our country, and so I love your passion and you're just a delight and I know that it's your heart, you give from your heart, michelle, and so it's just, it's so refreshing to see that. So tell us about. So what does an Honor Flight look like? I mean, what can someone expect?
Speaker 3:Someone that's going on an Honor Flight trip is a veteran.
Speaker 3:They can expect nothing to be cared for all weekend they expect to be honored and that their service matters and that people want to hear their story and listen to their story. I think a lot of veterans that go on an honor flight trip or they're like, hmm, our motto is a trip of a lifetime with honor and many of them go. I don't think you're going to pull that off. But then when we get back home I have several of them go. Oh my gosh, it was the trip of a lifetime because they've not only been honored for their service but they've been with other people that have walked in their bootsteps. They have been with other grateful, thankful Americans. And then they're doing it with a guardian.
Speaker 3:A lot of times veterans will go I don't need a guardian. I'm like, no, you really do for an honor flight trip. And I always make the joke I'm like the reason why you need a guardian is because I'm blonde and I could leave you, so your guardian won't let you be left behind. So I make the joke that way. But you know, the guardian is there to share and to listen and to truly put that veteran first. We tell guardians that they're getting to serve a hero. Yes, and that's truly what it is. But we've built relationships with our veterans that you would have never guessed. Like they've made friends and they get back together on a flight, host a reunion once a year. So they all come back together to have the camaraderie. And so it's amazing Like at our send off for Mission 12 that we just had a couple of weeks ago, there were veterans there for Mission 11 and guardians and your family was there?
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely, but there was a when we came home Sunday there was a veteran there from Mission 1. That was August of 22 or April of 22. I'm sorry, april, there he was supporting other veterans and just being there to welcome them home. So it's like you build an Honor Flight family in a community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like you said, it's a fantastic experience. So they get on a bus and then where are some of the stops? What are some of the things that they do along the way, michelle?
Speaker 3:Sure, on Friday we leave somewhere in the Tri-Cities usually a church and I'll put a selfless plug in that. If any church or organization would ever like to host Honor Flight, reach out to us. We'd love to. We like to go to different areas so we don't want to go to the same place every time. So if anybody would ever like to host us, we just need a space to park a few cars and to have a room big enough for a couple of hundred people on Friday and Sunday. But when we leave we usually stop either at D-Day Memorial in Bedford, virginia, on Friday or Sunday. We kind of alter our schedule sometimes, but they get to stop at D-Day Memorial and truly see the greatest generation and learn something about the Bedford boys and their sacrifice and that community sacrifice. And then on Saturday they do all of DC to include. We start our day at Arlington Cemetery. We lay a wreath there typically, then we go on to each branch. We go to the Marine Corps Museum or the Marine Corps Memorial, we go to the Navy Memorial.
Speaker 3:We go to World War II, vietnam, korea. We do the Air Force, we do Pentagon. We also spend about an hour at the Army Museum at Fort Belvedere, so we are actually just the whole day is all about all those memorials erected to their service and their sacrifice, and so many people will come up to them when they see them in a shirt that says they're a veteran and thank them for their service.
Speaker 3:So it's just a community coming together, even in DC. But then on Sunday, coming home, we typically stop at VMI Virginia Military Institute and they have lunch with the cadets and that is so powerful because that's the next generation. So they have lunch with the cadets and then we tour the chapel and the museum as we make our way back toward home. And then we usually meet up at the Tennessee Virginia Welcome Center there and we have our motorcycle escort and we have usually 50 to 75 motorcycle riders that escort those veterans back home to make their return extra special. So throughout that Honor Flight takes care of all their hotels, their food, their shirt they wear on Saturday, their hat they wear. I joke and tell them that it's almost like being back in the service because we tell them what to wear, where to sleep, what to eat and what time to be up and then we let them go to bed at the end.
Speaker 1:So, that's.
Speaker 3:It's very much a fast paced weekend. It's a hard weekend because it's a lot of ground to cover, but it's so impactful and so meaningful.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And I find that you know some of these veterans that I'm thinking how in the world are they going to survive that trip? But they do.
Speaker 3:They do, but they are really tired on Saturday night. I will tell you, I think they sleep really good on Saturday, but they're so excited and they're so jolly about it, even if we have rain and sometimes we do even if we have rain, they're troopers. It's like that's not going to slow them down from experiencing all there is to experience and to be there together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remember when we were going with Darva Steve's daddy to his on our flight on send off, I was amazed at the number of people along the way that had flags flying, the motorcycles that were there, you know, to escort the bus out, and then also just along the way where they stop and eat the VFWs, the people who volunteer and bring food and feed the veterans.
Speaker 3:I mean it takes a community and we are so grateful here in Northeast Tennessee that our community loves veterans.
Speaker 3:Very rarely do I ever get told no when I have to ask for something. But if I ask for a police escort, every police department or sheriff's department is eager to do that. When we notify our friends that ride motorcycles, they are always out there. And then we always our board of directors there's eight of us. We couldn't do this without the community support, without our volunteers and without people just stepping up and saying I think I can go visit those businesses and ask them to put a flag out. So it is all the community. We're just kind of putting it together and making it all happen. But the community sure loves veterans and I'm so glad to live in a town like that.
Speaker 2:And you're part of something that is rallying people together and it's positive and it brings people are willing to come together for a good cause and men and women who have fought and served our nation, you know it's worth it, it is. It's worth it, and so this takes money right it does so let's talk about some of your fundraisers and how people can help Michelle.
Speaker 3:It does. It costs us about $400 to take a veteran for the whole weekend, which?
Speaker 2:is a deal. It's a deal. I mean, that's one heck of a deal.
Speaker 3:It is. It's a great deal and it's because we have our community partners in Fairfax, virginia, that feed us dinner at no cost to us and the bus company gives us a good price and we have so many people that donate snacks and sodas and just all kinds of great stuff. But we do a lot of different fundraisers a year. We have our big fundraiser coming up in August is a dragon boat. We recreated dragon boat last year after it hadn't been in the area a few years. We had a great time and this year we're doing Dragon Boat again in August. But we do a golf tournament, a car show. We do so many things to just cater to different individuals that would want to do something to support Honor Flight Right and make it personal to them. Like people with old cars love to bring those cars out and show them off for veterans?
Speaker 2:Yes, so people can pay and come and see the car show. They can.
Speaker 3:And I will tell you, the best place to watch what we're doing is our Facebook page.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 3:Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands. Our website is honorflightahorg, but our website is hard to maintain for us because we have not found a person that will volunteer to update it for us. So if there's any volunteers out there with a little website knowledge, we'd love you to connect with Honor Flight, because none of us have that experience or that knowledge. So we are really great on our Facebook posting all the things we're doing and all the events. All of those things are there.
Speaker 2:Right, all the events, all of those things are there, right, and you know, I find that that's in a lot of organizations it's hard to find that person that has that technology background and can, you know, get your information out there in social media or update your website. I mean, that's difficult to find that.
Speaker 3:It is, and most of the people that have that knowledge are working in that field, and so they don't want to volunteer after work to do the same thing they're getting paid to do. Plus, they're dealing with it all day long and nobody wants to do their same thing at night.
Speaker 3:So we've not hit on that nick yet. We do have a website and it does have our applications for veterans on there and that works smooth and it's perfect. We're just not really great about posting photos on our website. We are more so geared toward the social media aspect.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, and people. You know the social media. That's where everybody gets a lot of their information. So are you on Instagram or is it just Facebook? We are. We're also on Instagram.
Speaker 3:So Instagram and Facebook, and then, anytime anybody ever has a question, our best email address to use and it's super easy to remember is gotodc at honorflightahorg Super easy to remember.
Speaker 2:Yes, that is, that's awesome. So you also honor deceased veterans because there are, and I just I love that because you do that on every single honor flight. So how many of the deceased veterans do you all take on an honor flight?
Speaker 3:We have what we call Memorial Mission and it is honoring those veterans that have passed before they had a Memorial Mission. Normally we do three to four Four is about the max, because I have one person that has those pictures all weekend and every stop we make that photo of the veteran is taken at that memorial or that site and as we're on the bus we tell the veterans about the veterans that are on memorial mission and it is just the sweetest thing and it touches my heart is.
Speaker 3:We will be maybe at the Navy Memorial and one of the Navy veterans will say give me your Memorial Mission photo. I want to hold it and we'll grab a photo of them holding that there. But those men and women that are being honored really see it as truly touching for them to honor a brother that's passed and the stories of those veterans. This past mission that we just had, we were honoring a veteran whose brother died in Vietnam, so we found his name on the wall and it was really powerful.
Speaker 2:That's very powerful.
Speaker 3:We would love. Anybody that has a veteran that's passed. We would love to honor them. We just need their photo and a little information about it. But we treat that photo with the respect that it deserves and they travel with us and they're such a part of our mission because we're honoring them.
Speaker 2:Do you need the military photo or just any photo of them? We would take any photo or either one.
Speaker 3:A lot of people have a hard time finding that military photo because they get lost or something like that.
Speaker 3:So we'll take any kind of photo. We just like to know a little bit about that person, that veteran, maybe where they served or when they served and what branch, so that we can make sure and share their story. There's a saying that says you die your first death when you leave this earth, but as long as your name is spoken, you don't ever die a second death. When your second death is when your name is not mentioned or not remembered. So we very much keep that in our mind, that we are honoring those veterans and we're not forgetting them, that their name is being said and that we are not allowing them to be forgotten.
Speaker 2:That's so important. I know when we've been to the VA cemetery for the wreaths and when we lay a wreath on the tombstone or the headstone of the grave, we say that veteran's name and salute.
Speaker 3:You do. Yes, Always say their name. Don't pass up that chance. It's so important. Yes, it's so important.
Speaker 2:I love that. Well, you know it'll be October 18th. It'll be four years that my dad passed away, and so I've got to get you the information, because he served in the Korean war, oh wow, and he is a purple, was a purple heart.
Speaker 3:We would love to take his photo.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I do have a military photo of him because with him Great, Because he was actually when he went to Korea. He lied about his age.
Speaker 3:He was only 17. He was only 17. Yeah.
Speaker 2:He went into the. He was an army ranger.
Speaker 3:Wow, yeah, and imagine that you want to serve your country that bad that you would lie about your age. Yeah, he did you know he wanted to, and what a legacy he's left behind yeah, he did.
Speaker 2:He was laying, they were getting hit by mortar rounds was all around. He used to always tell me this story and he was the type of gun that he carried. He lay on the ground. It was some big, huge gun. I don't know what it was, but a mortar round landed between his legs and he prayed right then and asked God. He said if you'll get me home safe. He said I just want to get married, I just want to have a family. That's what I want.
Speaker 3:That's exactly what God did for him what God did for him, and he spared his life and he served him all of his life.
Speaker 2:He did, he really did. So I just love your passion, michelle.
Speaker 3:And so when is the next Honor Flight coming up? The next Honor Flight is Mission 13. We will have accomplished 13 missions in a little less than four years, and it leaves June the 6th on D-Day anniversary, from Antioch Baptist Church in Johnson City. Send-off will be at program at 730, send-off at 8. So we'll hit the road about 8 o'clock and then we will return Sunday at 5. So June the 6th and the June the 8th at Antioch Baptist Church, okay.
Speaker 2:And is that already full? It is.
Speaker 3:We usually set our roster about 90 days ahead so that they have time to make travel plans and that kind of thing. So we have 21 local veterans. We have three Korean War veterans that are traveling with us and the rest are Vietnam veterans.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, that's awesome. Well, we'll look forward to June the 6th, on D-Day, and that's in the morning.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's when that leaves. On Friday, 8 o'clock in the morning is when we'll depart and I will be super excited to see the reeds there. I know you'll be there supporting those men and women.
Speaker 2:Che those men and women? Cheering them on Cheering them on. So thank you, michelle, for what you're doing serving our veterans and just loving and respecting the great United States of America.
Speaker 3:That's right. We live in the greatest country in the world.
Speaker 2:We should never take that for granted. Yeah, that's right, thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:This has been Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reed from Benchmark Home Loans. Jonathan and Steve are residential mortgage lenders. They do home loans in Northeast Tennessee and they're not only licensed in Tennessee but Florida, georgia, south Carolina and Virginia. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did make sure to like rate and review. Our passion is Northeast Tennessee, so if you have questions about mortgages, call us at 423-491-5405. And the website is wwwJonathanAndStevecom. Thanks for being with us and we'll see you next time on Benchmark Happenings.
