PHOTO GALLERY: This veteran is ready for Honor Flight No. 50
- The Bakersfield Californian
The first flight to Washington, D.C. organized by Honor Flight Kern County took place in spring 2012. The 50th flight, a landmark achievement for the local nonprofit, is scheduled to depart Meadows Field Airport early Tuesday morning.
U.S. Army veteran Fred R. Polard was discharged in 1976, but he immediately transitioned to the Army Reserve. "There was no break in service," he said. "I went directly into the Army Reserve, where I did 20 more years."
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
U.S. Army veteran Fred Polard, of Bakersfield, served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 in the Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti deserts. He still remembers Iraqi Scud missiles shaking the earth as they targeted U.S. Army barracks where he was stationed in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, before moving into Kuwait.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
U.S. Army and Army Reserve veteran Fred Polard may not look 71, but he is. At 6 feet 4½ inches, 243 pounds, he looks like he could still play tight end on his high school football team and at West Los Angeles College.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
Bakersfield resident Fred Polard, right, with his friend and fellow veteran, Dave Beattie, talks with a reporter about his 23-year career in the U.S. Army and his excitement about being part of Honor Flight Kern County's 50th flight, which is scheduled to leave Meadows Field Airport early Tuesday morning.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
Fred R. Polard's home in rural northeast Bakersfield is papered with pictures, awards, certificates and other memories of serving 23 years in the U.S. military. On Tuesday morning, Polard, 71, embarks on Honor Flight Kern County Flight No. 50.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
The military draft ended in 1973. In that same year Fred Polard enlisted in the U.S. Army. He expected to be called to serve in Vietnam. But the war in southeast Asia was beginning to wind down, and he was sent to Germany instead. Nearly two decades later, in 1991, he was deployed to Dhahran Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and from there to the ground war in Kuwait, where Iraqi troops had invaded and occupied Kuwait's oilfields in 1990.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
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U.S. Army veteran Fred R. Polard was discharged in 1976, but he immediately transitioned to the Army Reserve. "There was no break in service," he said. "I went directly into the Army Reserve, where I did 20 more years."
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
U.S. Army veteran Fred Polard, of Bakersfield, served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 in the Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti deserts. He still remembers Iraqi Scud missiles shaking the earth as they targeted U.S. Army barracks where he was stationed in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, before moving into Kuwait.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
U.S. Army and Army Reserve veteran Fred Polard may not look 71, but he is. At 6 feet 4½ inches, 243 pounds, he looks like he could still play tight end on his high school football team and at West Los Angeles College.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
Signs of Fred Polard's 23-year military career are just about everywhere in his home, including on magnetic stickers decorating his fridge.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
Bakersfield resident Fred Polard, right, with his friend and fellow veteran, Dave Beattie, talks with a reporter about his 23-year career in the U.S. Army and his excitement about being part of Honor Flight Kern County's 50th flight, which is scheduled to leave Meadows Field Airport early Tuesday morning.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
Fred R. Polard's home in rural northeast Bakersfield is papered with pictures, awards, certificates and other memories of serving 23 years in the U.S. military. On Tuesday morning, Polard, 71, embarks on Honor Flight Kern County Flight No. 50.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
The rural Bakersfield home of U.S. Army combat veteran Fred R. Polard is decorated with memories and memorabilia.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
Awards, photos, certificates, Gulf War-era newspapers and other memorabilia are plentiful in 23-year U.S. Army veteran Fred Polard's garage.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
The military draft ended in 1973. In that same year Fred Polard enlisted in the U.S. Army. He expected to be called to serve in Vietnam. But the war in southeast Asia was beginning to wind down, and he was sent to Germany instead. Nearly two decades later, in 1991, he was deployed to Dhahran Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and from there to the ground war in Kuwait, where Iraqi troops had invaded and occupied Kuwait's oilfields in 1990.
- Rod Thornburg / For The Californian
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