A British World War Two veteran who is now a Las Vegas resident, after emigrating to the United States, has been given a VIP tour of the Nellis Air Force Base, and met Royal Air Force personnel taking part in a major exercise there.
Henry Ison a former Royal Naval Airman and Parachute Regiment veteran was hosted by Colonel Jared Hutchinson the Commanding Officer of the 414th Squadron of the United States Air Force, the squadron that runs the well-known Exercise RED FLAG, the world’s largest air combat training exercise that is run at Nellis several times a year.
Henry born in 1925, joined the Royal Navy in 1942 and became an airman with the Fleet Air Arm. After training he served at the Royal Naval Air Station at Lee on Solent near Portsmouth on the south coast of England, flying the famous Swordfish aircraft.
In 1944, Henry volunteered to transfer to the Parachute Regiment and served with the 2nd and 13th Battalions in the UK, Singapore and Palestine before being discharged in 1947. During his time with the Parachute Regiment, Henry carried out 29 parachute jumps. Later Henry and his wife emigrated to the US where he held a commercial pilot’s licence and was also a flight instructor.
The visit came about because Mr Robert Montoya, the honorary commander of the 414th Squadron is a friend of the family and knew of Henry’s lifelong love of flying. During the visit Henry visited the RAF detachment that was taking part in Exercise RED FLAG, was driven alone the flight line to see over a hundred fast jets that were on the flight line for the exercise and also visited the United States Air Force display team the Thunderbirds.
There is a worldwide bond between aviators of all nations and generations, we have faced and overcome the same challenges. It is a great pleasure to be able to host Henry, a representative of that generation who fought for freedom in World War Two. A concept that is important today as it was then.
Colonel Jared Hutchinson
Commanding Officer, 14th Squadron USAF
Henry’s visit coincided with a visit of nearly 300 RAF personnel who had deployed to take part in Ex Red Flag at the base. Henry was therefore able to meet one of the Typhoon pilots from, the RAF’s II(AC) SqUuadron as well as visit the squadron’s flight line where he was shown the RAF typhoon fighters.
After visiting the RAF detachment, Henry was then driven down along the Nellis flight line where he saw the rest of the aircraft taking part in the exercise from the United States Air Force, The United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps, as well as the Royal Australian Air Force.
At the Thunderbirds hanger and museum, Henry first saw a film about the history of the famous display team. He was then escorted to the VIP suit where he was shown the Thunderbird’s briefing table and sat in Thunderbird One, the Commanding Officer’s, place. Henry was then given a tour of the museum where various artefacts and the significance of them were explained.
Henry was taken into the Thunderbirds hanger where he saw some of the team’s F-16s in their iconic livery. Asked if he would like to fly in one of the jets, he said:“yes but only if I am on my own! That if he could he would join again tomorrow.”
Henry and his late wife Dorothy emigrated to the United States in the 1960s and became US citizens soon after. Initially they lived in Florida before settling in Las Vegas, where he lives to this day.