Local Vietnam Veteran treated to surprise plane ride

A local Vietnam Veteran received a surprise plane ride on Saturday.

Sgt. James “Jimmy” Jacks served as a UH-1H Crew Chief in the Army from 1970 until 1972.

He says he never thought he would get to fly again.

“It’s the most fantastic thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “Even flying in Vietnam and such, that was phenomenal. I was telling them, I never foresaw myself getting into another aircraft of any kind, really. You know, I don’t have any aspirations of going to the Bahamas or anything, so I didn’t see myself in a commercial aircraft. And they took my helicopter away a long time ago. But, that was unbelievable, it really was. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve done in my life.”

However, this past weekend, Jacks friend and fellow veteran Benjamin Stanfield arranged for Jacks to take flight one more time.

Stanfield says he felt like this was a chance for him to help a fellow veteran out.

“The plane ride was very smooth. We got to go up, fly through the mountains and see the lakes,” he said. “It was just a remarkable experience to go up with one of our Vietnam Veterans, someone who in their time back in the service was very different from our little joy ride we just took. Being able to be up in the air with Jimmy Jacks and our pilot, it was just a remarkable experience.”

On Saturday morning, Stanfield and Jacks arrived at the Toccoa-Stephens County Airport.

The pair met with Pilot Dave Standard before walking out on the runway to board their plane, a Cherokee 180.

Will Cobb is the Airport Manager for the Toccoa-Stephens County Airport. He told WNEG News that he believed this was an opportunity for the airport to give back to the community.

“I was contacted by the Civil Air Patrol. And they told me the story about Ben and how he wanted to get Jim flying, so we volunteered to try to get someone to take him flying. And luckily Dave Standards volunteered to take him this morning,” Cobb said. “If there’s anything that Jimmy wants to look at, I think he likes the mountains, so they’re going to head up into the mountains and fly over Currahee and over Toccoa Falls and head up to Clayton, in Rabun County. We’re just glad we could help out, and glad we could be a part of it.”

Jacks told WNEG News he was lost for words.

“That’s one of the most memorable things I’ve ever done—it truly is,” Jacks said. “I really loved it, I could talk about it all day long and I don’t think I’d scratch the surface. It was beautiful. What Ben did, what he went through, or whatever he did, I really owe him and whomever else was involved. He kept saying he had a surprise me, but I never thought it would be anything like this.”

Stanfield says being part of a community means you take care of each other.

 

All photos courtesy of Benjamin Stanfield.