This was the summer of Stranger Things. The biggest Netflix show since Orange is the New Black had me, along with a lot of other subscribers, obsessed with its ‘80s vibe, unforgettable characters (RIP Barb) and eerie paranormal elements. What fascinated me most about the show was how a little girl named Eleven could open up another world in her mind by just floating in a tank.

If you can read this, thank a teacher … If you can read this in English, thank a veteran. The words printed on the back of Honor Flight T-shirts are words World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans live by. As do the younger generations who call those men and women their heroes. For 11 years, Honor Flight has been flying World War II, Vietnam and Korean War veterans into all three Washington airports out of 130 hubs in 44 U.S. states.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Brian Rosenberg couldn’t picture a future with children or any future further than a few months away. Rosenberg, who is HIV-positive, focused solely on enjoying life in the moment with his husband, Ferd Van Gameren. But the advent of anti-retroviral therapy gave him a new lease on life and suddenly fatherhood didn’t seem so out of the question.

The Baltimore-Annapolis Trail saved Tom Caraker’s life. In 2000, Type II diabetes and multiple strokes tormented the now 81-year-old, depriving him of feeling in his hands. Defying the doctor’s orders he dug a mountain bike out of his shed and went riding through Severna Park. Squeezing handbrakes brought back first tingling, then full feeling.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail prepared him for his next journey as a Navy SEAL. To be exact, 125 awakenings. One each morning as he hiked the trail in the 41⁄2 months after his 2014 graduation from Calvert High School. Each morning and every mile brought the 19-year-old closer to embodying the values he sought to reach his goal of becoming a Navy SEAL.