Al Arnold smiles as he remembers an encounter with a group of middle school students while leading a Villages Honor Flight full of veterans at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
“You could see their teacher leaning over to tell them who these veterans, were and what they had done,” Arnold recalls. “These students were shaking the veterans’ hands, saying ‘Thank you for your service.’ There is hope for our nation, you know!”
Arnold (’72 computer science) has seen much. Early on in his service, Arnold utilized his degree from Iowa State as he worked up the ranks to supervise teams for the Army’s Computer Systems Command of Europe. Within his decades-long military career, he traveled the world and distinguished himself by serving as a technical warfare planner for NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and as a Pentagon project manager designing a first-of-its-kind defense travel system utilized by the entire Department of Defense. Arnold utilized his computer science degree to oversee many information technology firsts for the department.
His service didn’t stop at retirement, and his work with The Villages Honor Flight is a testament to that fact. First introduced to the non-profit while greeting vets at Dulles Airport in 2010, Al would go on to serve as a guardian – someone who accompanies a veteran for their day of honor at the National Mall – and for several years held the office of president of The Villages Honor Flight of north central Florida, where he retired with his wife Phyllis.
“We expect our guardians here to be lifelong friends with their veterans and establish that kind of relationship,” he says. “A lot of veterans that have seen combat duty are reluctant to share their stories, even with their family. So this is a time for them to get together to reflect and share their stories and their emotions that they may have held for decades.”
Arnold’s most cherished moments were from the time he spent as a guardian, and one memory in particular stands out.
“No doubt, the most memorable mission I was on was the one where I was a guardian for a Korean War U.S. Army lieutenant colonel,” Arnold says. “He and I just clicked. Not only was it expected that we maintain our friendship, but he and his wife and my wife and I are very close and frequently socialize. In fact, we just helped them celebrate their 92nd and 93rd birthdays.”
Arnold’s time at Iowa State was no less memorable than his time in the service. Enrolling in 1968 on a four-year ROTC scholarship during the peak of the Vietnam War, Al was a freshman cadet during a period of national controversy and change.
“I can remember doing drill out on the parade field, and people – at that time called hippies – would come up during our drills and put flowers in our rifles, looking for a reaction,” he says.
While campus was grappling with the national debate, student life was changing as well. Arnold lived in Friley Hall, where he could see football games in Clyde Williams Field. When the opportunity came to integrate the boys and girls dorms for the first time, Arnold stepped up.
“I was living on Franklin Floor, and we were selected to be one of the three houses that went over to the women’s side of campus,” Arnold says. “The administration said, ‘We need to know if you want to be one of about 100 guys living with these thousands of girls,’ And I said, ‘OK, if you twist my arm.’”
Throughout his life, Arnold has always come back to service. In addition to volunteering with The Villages Honor Flight, he also volunteers with the Military Retiree Activity Office assisting veterans with anything from retired pay to medical issues. In his community, as the president of the Helping Hands program, he works to get medical and mobility equipment into the hands of fellow residents through free temporary loans. Last year this project helped more than 8,400 residents.
After all of this giving, he has the most heartwarming stories to tell.
“Almost to the person, every veteran who goes on an Honor Flight mission says it was the best day of their life,” Arnold says. “The entire day, everyone the veterans meet thanks them for their service. Honor Flight provides recognition and heartfelt thanks for their sacrifice from a grateful nation. Veterans have tears in their eyes at the end of the day."
By Julia Biehl and Kate Kohart
Story published: May 2023