Art Flynn, a U.S. Navy veteran and Honesdale native, will be honored for his years of service on Saturday, May 23, ahead of Memorial Day.
Flynn joined the U.S. Navy in 1966 before spending three tours of duty on the USS Intrepid during the Vietnam War. He was first assigned to the Intrepid’s boiler room, where they produced steam that powered the ship.
“[It] was a tremendous[ly] hot place to work, where they said the temperatures in the boiler room were up to 160 degrees,” said Flynn. “So that wasn’t a very popular place to be.”
Flynn was later assigned to the Intrepid’s repair shop. He said he looked forward to the days where the ship would pull into ports all over the world for a few days – from the Philippines to Sasebo, Japan to Singapore.
Born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, Flynn was raised in Callicoon, New York. After returning from service, he settled down back in Wayne County with his wife, his high school sweetheart who he met in 1964.
“We were married in January of ‘68 and a month after we were married, I was deployed back on the carrier back to Vietnam for a year before I got to see her again,” said Flynn. “That’s the reason I came back here.”
Flynn and his daughter recently traveled to Washington, D.C. in April as part of a veterans’ trip organized by local veteran nonprofit Hudson Valley Honor Flight.
“They were 100 percent for the veterans that day. They treated us [like] royalty. In the morning, we had so many people saw us off from Stewart Airport. In Montgomery where we formed up on some buses, they had some 130-some Rolling Thunder motorcycle group there to escort us, too,” said Flynn.
Flynn is a board member and former president of the Equinunk Historical Society. The society will honor Flynn’s service with a ceremony on May 23 at 1 p.m. followed by an ice cream social at the Equinunk Historical Society in Equinunk, Pennsylvania.
Image: Hudson Valley Honor Flight’s Mission 38 Trip to Washington D.C. in April 2026 (Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Honor Flight)