Retired Marine colonel joins Southwest Florida Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - More than 70 veterans took off from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport this morning for this year’s Southwest Florida Honor Flight.The one-day journey to Washington, D.C. gives veterans an opportunity to visit the memorials built in their honor.Among those on board is an 85-year-old retired Marine colonel who served his country for 30 years and survived being wounded three times in Vietnam.Retired Marine colonel Jim Leslie received three Purple Hearts during three decades of service that took him to Vietnam, Grenada, Panama and Desert Storm.Honor Flight Mission XXV takes 75 local veterans to nation’s capitol“I never won a Silver Star or a Medal of Honor. I was just an ordinary Marine doing my job,” Leslie said.Leslie said Vietnam was where he faced his toughest battles. In 1967, he arrived in Khe Sanh, a remote military base near the demilitarized zone. What he thought would be a quiet assignment in the mountains became a fight for survival.“Every day was