Wally Prim will never forget the day a South Korean family ran up and hugged him in the concourse of Dulles Airport in Virginia, happily yelling “G.I., G.I.”

“That brought tears to my eyes,” said Prim, who served in the Army in the early 1950s in Korea and Japan and remembered enough Korean to exchange pleasantries with the parents and kids.

At least he thought he did.

“I tried some of my Korean on them and they laughed and laughed” said Prim, 91.

That encounter was part of Prim’s experience with Honor Flight Chicago — a trip he took with other veterans Aug. 9, 2017. He recounted that momentous journey and his involvement with the organization in the years since along with Honor Flight Chicago volunteer Jackie Moline during a program last week at Evergreen Park Public Library.

Prim called the free trip to the nation’s Capitol with 106 other veterans the “best day of my life.” He joked that whenever he says that, his wife of 42 years, Gail, pipes in that it was “the second best day of my life.” The two have lived in Evergreen Park for years.

Prim’s journey in 2017 included a 4 a.m. flight to Dulles, with coffee and sweet rolls plus entertainment by the Legacy Girls singing tunes from the 1940s and ’50s, and a bus ride to Washington to visit war memorials and monuments and Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

A full medical team and volunteer guardians accompanied the World War II, Korean and Vietnam veterans. Prim said two volunteers knelt to kiss him on the cheeks at one point during the event.

Prim and his comrades returned at the end of the day to Midway, where several thousand people, including family, friends, police and firefighters greeted them. Each vet also received “mail call,” or dozens of letters of appreciation.

“I was overwhelmed,” Prim said. “I remember every second.”

Moline, who led the event, said more than 10,000 veterans have gone on the trips since it was cofounded by Mary E. Pettinato in 2008. Each trip costs $140,000, she said.

“Our mission … is to honor, thank and inspire,” said Moline, a member of Evergreen Park’s Senior Council and volunteer for many other organizations.

Moline and other organizers with Honor Flight have several missions, including Operation Locate a Hero, where they recruit potential Honor Flight participants and encourage them to fill out applications at American Legion and VFW posts.

After his flight, Prim became “one of our biggest cheerleaders,” Moline said.

Another effort, dubbed Mission Never Forget, involves finding veterans age 96 and older and sending them birthday cards “to keep them going.” They also have car parades for veterans involving area fire and police departments that include short ceremonies and yard signs to honor the veterans.

“Just to let these people know we haven’t forgotten about then,” Moline said.

The group’s latest effort is the Operation Educate Program, where volunteers and veterans travel to schools to talk to students about their service and the nonprofit’s mission.

Moline applauded Southwest Airlines for its help transporting the veterans. Last year a pilot whose dad was going on an Honor Flight Chicago trip requested that he fly the plane, she said.

“It was just amazing,” Moline said.

The handful of residents who attended the talk were equally moved.

“That group of people didn’t talk about the war too much,” said Kim Shine, whose dad was a World War II vet who later experienced an Honor Flight. “I think it was overwhelming in a good way — they felt celebrated and looked back over the memories they had.”

Her son’s father-in-law trained to be a guardian for the event, accompanying her father, which she said was the only way her dad was willing to attend.

“It’s very emotional for sure,” Shine said.

Prim was upbeat throughout the library event, recalling the better parts of his military service. He enjoyed “the camaraderie of all the troops” plus the physical training. He scored so high on the training that they made him a physical training instructor for his platoon and he eventually attained the rank of master sergeant.

He volunteered for the Army after being raised at Mercy Home for Boys and Girls and fending for himself the last few years of high school.

“He was used to being on his own,” said his wife, Gail. “I think that kind of helped in the service.”

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.