When I go out on an interview, I work hard to act professional at all times.

I put all personal feelings aside and concentrate only on those I am interviewing. It’s easy because, as a feature writer and columnist, I get to pick my subjects. That means I only write about exceptionally nice people with an interesting story to tell.I know it’s not professional to show feelings during an interview when all I’m supposed to be doing is learning about someone else.But there are rare time when it’s impossible not to let my feelings overtake me.To tell the truth, sometimes I cry.I did a recent interview with tears flowing down my face.The interview was with Walter Fricke, who started Veterans Airlift Command, a nonprofit organization devoted to flying wounded warriors home.Walt went into detail about the challenges these veterans face when they try to fly on regular airlines.One veteran, who was trying to fly to a ceremony awarding him the Purple Heart, had no money for an airline ticket. When someone offered him a frequent flyer ticket, he had no idea a two-hour plane flight would turn into a 13½ hour horror. With no legs and only one arm, the airline left him on his own to struggle through five airports. Because he wasn’t allowed to use his wheelchair on a plane, he had to scoot on his rump down the aisles.Don’t our wounded warriors deserve better?Walt Fricke thinks so. That’s why he started Veterans Airlift Command.Although jet fuel alone costs about $5,000 an hour, volunteer aircraft owners and pilots cover the costs, and the wounded vets are treated like the heroes they are.My tears started when Walt told me why he started that nonprofit. During the Vietnam War, he was a helicopter pilot flying high-risk missions into Cambodia. During one mission a rocket exploded and shrapnel shredded his foot.“When I got hit I reached down to grab my knee, and my foot came off in my lap,” he recalls.“I was an emotional basket case as I laid in the hospital wondering if my fiancee would still want a guy with one leg. She and my parents were 700 miles away and didn’t have the financial resources to come see me for a month,” he says.“It wasn’t until they came and my fiancee was there to help nurse me back to health that I started to heal.”That unforgettable experience did more than shape his life.It was what led him to start the nonprofit organization that provides free air transportation to wounded warriors and their families for medical and other compassionate purposes.When he retired in 2006, Walt had the idea of recruiting volunteer pilots to join in flying the wounded warriors.He put $600,000 of his own money into starting Veterans Airlift Command because he didn’t want to take money from anyone until he knew the idea would work.“A few weeks after our first trip when our website explained what we were trying to do, we had 40 volunteer pilots,” Walt says. “I knew then we could do it.”He found those who most needed help by going to military rehab hospitals such as Walter Reed to talk with veterans with devastating injuries.“They turned their faces to the wall and didn’t want to talk to anyone because they thought no one could understand their feelings. But when someone lifts a pant leg and shows them a prosthesis, they open up and talk,” he says.Ten years after getting started, VAC now has 2,500 volunteer pilots who fly their own planes on the humanitarian missions.Incredibly, more than 13,000 wounded warrior transports have been completed.Behind each of those missions is a heartwarming and often heart-wrenching story.When I saw the photos of young men without legs or arms, I couldn’t stop the tears. I am so grateful Walt started Veterans Air Command to help them.“For a pilot, it’s an incredible feeling to be able to help these wounded heroes,” Walt says.When Walt got a call to transport a combat vet with an amazing attitude despite losing both legs and an arm, he asked business tycoon Bruce Rose to fly that one.“At first Bruce said he was too busy. I told him in 10 years he wouldn’t be able to recall what kept him busy,” says Walt. “But if he flew that mission, he would never forget it.”Walt was right.“Bruce Rose was so moved by what he saw that he started building adaptive homes for catastrophically injured veterans and their families,” Walt says.As others get involved in the Veterans Air Command, that ripple effect continues with more significant help for the wounded veterans.And it all started with the desolating time in Walt Fricke’s life when he experienced the despair of a wounded warrior.Many call Walt “the hero of the heroes.” It’s an accolade that is well-earned.“I couldn’t find a more meaningful way to spend my retirement,” he says.And I sure couldn’t find a more meaningful story to tell, tears and all.For more information, check out veteransairlift.org or follow it on Facebook.Contact Pattie Mihalik at

newsgirl@comcast.net.