Honor Flight Southern Nevada takes fallen veteran to DC memorials in spirit

Vietnam veteran’s photo toured war memorials after he died before scheduled trip

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) —Honor Flight Southern Nevada did something in April that hasn’t happened in the 13 years the organization has been sending veterans to tour their war memorials.

Vietnam veteran Larry Lambert enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1970 after high school. His wife says he served three tours in Vietnam. He received a Vietnam Service Medal and Bronze Star. His wife said he once jumped in to fight a fire after a plane crashed on a ship’s flight deck, helped others and made sure weapons ordinance wouldn’t catch fire.

Lambert was scheduled to go on the April Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C. Denise Butera of Honor Flight Southern Nevada, who served as a team lead, talked to Lambert about going.

“He was always so happy, excited and had lots of questions,” Butera said.

But shortly before the trip Lambert said he was in the hospital. So HFSN was planning to move him to the October trip.

“And we found out a few days later he had passed,” Butera said. “It was a little bit of a shock.”

Butera said Lambert passed on the 24th and her dad passed away on the 26th.

Photo traveled to memorials

Lambert’s passing didn’t mean he couldn’t go to D.C. in spirit.

Butera asked family members if they wanted Honor Flight to bring Lambert’s picture to D.C. and be photographed around the memorials. The family said yes.

Lambert’s photo went to D.C. with other veterans. He, and the group, got a round of applause when Honor Flight landed in Baltimore. That night Larry traveled with the group for dinner hosted by a VFW in Ellicott City, Maryland.

The next day Lambert was with vets at the Honor Flight welcome ceremony at the World War Two Memorial. He was present for taps at the Women’s Vietnam Memorial.

“Larry will have a lot to talk about to his wife,” Butera said.

Lambert’s photo was at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps Memorial and the 9/11 Memorial where a plane crashed into the Pentagon.

Lambert then sat for a group photo at the Navy Museum, the last stop on the trip. He got a hero’s welcome home at Harry Reid International Airport, where he reunited with his family.

“He went on a weekend of adventure, and he’ll have a lot to say and share,” Butera said.

Honor Flight Southern Nevada put together a montage of Lambert’s trip. And showed that decades after fighting ended in Vietnam, no one gets left behind.

https://www.fox5vegas.com/2026/05/25/honor-flight-takes-fallen-veteran-dc-memorials-spirit/