World War II veterans return to the skies in Colorado

At 96, Bob Fleak zipped up his old Army flight suit and climbed into a World War II-era biplane, eager to return to the skies he once knew. Watch the full story here.

9NEWS — CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The olive-green flight suit was older than many of the family members gathered on the tarmac at Centennial Airport. Robert “Bob” Fleak tugged at its zipper, smiling faintly. “Yes,” he said, when asked if it still fit.

“I wore this when I was 25 years old,” said Fleak. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added: “Over 55 years ago.”

At 96, soon to be 97, Fleak has lived enough lives to fill several volumes — soldier, helicopter pilot, coach, engineer, father of four, grandfather of 10. On this September morning, though, he was once again simply a man preparing to fly.

Fleak was one of 10 residents of The Ridge Senior Living – Pinehurst, a Lakewood retirement community, who took to the skies in an open-cockpit Stearman biplane.

The flights were arranged by Dream Flights, a nonprofit that has made it its mission to honor veterans by taking them back into an aircraft of the past. Since 2011, the group has flown more than 6,000 seniors nationwide, most of them veterans of the Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam.

The Stearman is more than a nostalgic prop. Built in the 1940s, it was the trainer for thousands of young American aviators during World War II. The biplane’s roar, its raw wooden frame and fabric skin are meant to transport passengers back to a time when flying was as much peril as privilege.

“I think it will be an honor to have my name on the plane that honors veterans,” Fleak said. After his flight, he joined other veterans, leaning in to sign his name on the tail, part of a ritual Dream Flights began during its nationwide “Operation September Freedom” tour.

A Soldier Who Never Slowed Down

Fleak joined the Army in 1945, “During the German occupation at the end of World War Two,” and went on to spend two decades in uniform. He became a helicopter pilot in 1955, with the 11th Airborne Division in Germany, flying paratroopers across Europe during the Cold War.

“Soldiers could jump out the side door of the helicopter. We were nicknamed as angels because they flew out from the clouds down to the ground,” said Fleak.

“It’s a very good feeling when you can lift off the ground and take off into up to 10,000 feet,” he said, remembering the liberation of controlling a machine suspended in air.

Even after he retired in 1965, aviation stayed with him. “Yes, I do,” he said simply when asked if he missed flying. “I would still like to fly.”

At The Ridge, where he moved last year, Fleak is known less as an aging veteran and more as a man who refuses to slow down.

“I participate in the exercise classes at least once a day, and oftentimes twice a day,” he said. “And I walk probably a mile a day. Exercise keeps me going.”

Fleak said he doesn’t feel like he’s about to turn 97 in December.

His children gathered on the tarmac to watch him climb into the Stearman. His daughter Lisa laughed as he tried to hoist himself onto the wing without waiting for help.

“Oh my gosh. Just so typical of him,” she said. “He’s 96 and if people hear that, they think he’s going to be slow, but he’s so quick and surprises everybody.”

His son Kenny added, “He wants to live past 100 and he’s doing everything he can to make that happen. So every day is a great day for him.”

Susan, another daughter, called the experience a milestone, “He’s very proud of being in the military. For him and flying again, I think this is a highlight of his life.”

Honoring a Fading Generation

Dream Flights has grown into a traveling archive of living memory. The group’s volunteer pilots, many of them retired commercial aviators, donate their time to fly veterans in Stearmans restored by mechanics around the country.

The organization describes its mission as preserving history “one flight at a time,” while giving veterans and their families a moment of exhilaration.

Fewer than 150,000 World War II veterans remain alive, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Every Dream Flight is, in some ways, a race against time.

On the ground at Centennial, Fleak insisted he wasn’t nervous.

“I’m ready to go anytime,” he said.

Strapped in, wearing a vintage leather flying helmet and headphones, Fleak gave two big thumbs-up to his family, who cheered him on from the tarmac.

In the air, he looked peaceful, turning his head to take in the view. When the wheels touched down, a wide grin spread across his face — one he couldn’t seem to shake.

“I feel good. I feel better now!” he proclaimed when he stepped off the plane.

It was a short flight — just 15 minutes in the air. But it was also a return. For a man who once ferried paratroopers into German skies, who had seen the explosion of a hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands as a young engineer, who had carried the weight of war and the discipline of the Army, it was a chance to feel again what flying meant to him.

In his daughter Lisa’s words: “If we can all find what still keeps us going, then awesome. That’s important… He’s taught me that.”

Discover additional inspiring flights and stories from The Ridge Senior Living residents in this CBS News feature.