New Mexico Congressman honors vets with solo world flight

A New Mexico Republican congressman is attempting a solo flight around the world to honor war veterans.

The Hobbs News-Sun Newspaper reports that U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce has nearly completed a worldwide expedition but his plane was sitting in a hangar in Spain this weekend while waiting for the weather to improve.

Pearce was quoted in an article posted on the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association website.

“Everywhere I went, young, old, male, female, Muslim and Christian… it didn’t matter if they liked the U.S. or hated the U.S., everyone identified with honoring the sacrifice of the people that had gone before us,” Pearce recalled. “This kind of common theme of humanity, that we all really do just want to get along. We want our kids to have families and be successful. That, to me, began to put a stamp on the mission. It was one of the most intense things that I’ve ever done in my life.”

According to Pearce’s biography, he served as a combat pilot, flying over 518 hours of combat flight and 77 hours of combat support.

The 68-year-old began the planned 16-day trip on March 27, departing in his 1998 Mooney M20M Bravo from Las Vegas, Nevada.

The original 21-leg flight plan had Pearce flying West to Hawaii through Asia on to the Arabian Peninsula then to Spain, Portugal, and eventually back to the U.S.

In Thailand, he left a memorial for veterans made by the Isleta Pueblo, one of 19 American Indian pueblos in New Mexico.