REALTOR® Travis Parker, 74, broker-owner of Travis Realty in Enterprise, Ala., grew up in a home where patriotism and volunteerism were proudly shared and expected. Parker’s father served in World War II and the Korean War, and his ancestors were in the Civil and Revolutionary Wars.
While the Vietnam War raged and caused widespread conflict, Parker enlisted in the Army, serving as a medic for returning wounded soldiers at Fort Rucker in Alabama. He waited to be sent overseas, but the war ended.
What left an indelible mark were stories and protests about the lack of appreciation for Vietnam veterans. “Tomatoes were thrown at them. Some were told not to wear their uniforms off their post, and many were treated like trash,” Parker says.
The behavior contrasted sharply with boisterous homecomings for World War I and II veterans. After those conflicts ended, crowds waved flags, displayed homemade signs and lined up to shake hands.
Parker was determined to find a way to provide a long overdue thank you and appreciation for veterans. A casual conversation four years ago led to his starting a hub of the national nonprofit Honor Flight, founded in 2005 to provide expense-paid trips to Washington, D.C., so veterans could visit national war memorials.
Using his business skills as a real estate practitioner for 19 years and former owner of a music chain and a tanning salon, as well as his experience as consummate volunteer, patriot and people-person, Parker incorporated Wiregrass Honor Flight in 2022.
It took three years to raise funds for the first flight with eight veterans, eight guardians, two volunteers and Parker. “I saw the outlooks of countless veterans change literally before my eyes and heard many voice thank you,” he says. “Vets held up their heads and shoulders and were proud.”
Parker’s hub has now flown more than 75 veterans to visit the Vietnam Wall, WW II memorial, Navy and Army memorials, Arlington National Cemetery and other sites. He hopes to take the 75 on his wait list soon. Sadly, a dozen have died while waiting.
Dwain Hartwick, 79, is among those on the wait list. Drafted at age 20, he served two years in Vietnam as a warrant officer and received two Purple Hearts. “The prevailing mood of the country at the time was to ignore those serving,” he says. “The war was very unpopular, and many felt it dragged on. I was OK since I was not in it for the applause but the cause.”
Hartwick retired after more than 22 years of service, became an attorney and met Parker when hired to do legal work. “I stand in awe of how he single-handedly organized his nonprofit and got people on board. He knows how to connect everyone,” he says.
In four years, Parker has expanded his hub’s territory to cover most of Alabama and parts of Florida and Georgia, raised more than $100,000 and donated $5,000 of personal funds. Each flight costs $1,200 per veteran and $700 for a guardian on a commercial or charter plane.
For those unable to visit the Vietnam Wall, he once brought an 8-foot high, 380-foot-long replica to Enterprise, a town of about 29,000 people in southeastern Alabama. (Doing so again would cost about $30,000.) He also hosts virtual trips, organizes reunions, coordinates special events and recruits volunteers.
Judi Temple, daughter of a marine and stepdaughter of a Vietnam vet, started volunteering to recruit veterans to participate in Honor Flight trips after witnessing a homecoming in Florida. “I was hooked watching veterans come through as the crowd cheered and cried,” she says. A subsequent move to Alabama led her to the nonprofit’s Facebook page and Parker.
We owe these people for what they’ve done, and Parker helps 24/7,” Temple says. “He sees a glimpse of a need and quickly fills it, whether by using an existing organization or starting one to improve others’ quality of life and restore their pride. And he does so with a wonderful sense of humor.”
Parker’s insatiable desire to do good has inspired him to start other volunteer ventures and work with existing organizations. “I’m trying to fill in the gaps where I see them such as cell phones for vets who need them for everything—making emergency calls, scheduling VA appointments, calling friends and family,” he says.
Parker also places wreaths at vets’ grave sites for patriotic observances, retires worn flags with vets who are cremated, honors vets who die by suicide, and coordinates construction and funding of wheelchair ramps.
Other efforts are away from the spotlight: housing a homeless veteran, paying for a veteran’s cremation and procuring food, furniture and supplies for those in need. He also encourages new real estate professionals to volunteer “not for the publicity but for the purpose. Recognition is a bonus and never the goal,” he says.
Yet, bonuses have come, including a Presidential Gold Medal for Volunteer Work and REALTOR® of the Year from the Wiregrass Board of REALTORS®.
Parker has no plans to slow down or stop initiating ventures. On his radar: housecleaning for those undergoing cancer treatments, something he and his late wife Sue would have welcomed.
His ace organizational skills and a color-coded calendar on his cell phone help him keep fulfilling his goals. In his fast-talking Southern drawl, Parker says, “I still have so much to do.”
