Wanted To Pay Tribute To Vietnam Vets, But Trip Was Kept Secret

Most people who make an attempt to fly solo around the world make it a pretty big deal, but that was not the case for U.S. Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM) who recently ended his second attempt to circumnavigate the globe.

Television station KOB reports that Congressman Pearce, who served as an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, left March 27th from Las Vegas, making stops in several locations in Southeast Asia to leave behind memorials created by Native Americans in New Mexico. His goal was to honor those who had served and died in the Vietnam war. Before the flight, he told KOB that he planned to stop at several bases where he had flown during the war, and where he knew American soldiers had been lost flying combat missions.

But the trip was kept out of the public eye. Pearce said that was because there are several places in the world where a U.S. Congressman traveling alone without a security detail might make a tempting target for kidnapping and extortion.

Pearce ended his flight in his Mooney M20 Bravo Monday in Spain. The Albuquerque Journal reports that, according to the Congressman's staff, "heavy headwinds and dangerous turbulence forced Pearce to not complete the final legs of the flight. While Pearce was unable to complete his journey this week, he is committed to finishing, not allowing adverse weather or any other challenges stand in his way.”

He took a commercial flight back to the U.S. so that he could be in Washington when the House reconvened Tuesday.

His previous attempt last August was also cut short due to bad weather, according to the report.

(Official photo)

FMI: http://pearce.house.gov