My Honor Flight experience

evilelf

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My Honor Flight experience

I escorted 4 WW II vets from Huntsville AL to Washington DC on 25 Apr 09

Radioman Third Class James Calhoun, USN, 88 years young (my primary)

Maj. Joe Copeland, USAF, 86 years young

Lt Col Robert Geiger, USA, 83 years young

Seaman First Class Ernest (Buck) Gunnells, USN, 82 years young

My honoree still mows his grass weekly with a push mower,

He was drafted into the Navy in 1944 and discharged in 1945, he trained at Pearl Harbor, he was at Okinawa for 45 day until it was conquered, then onto Iwo Jima for 30 days

He was assigned to the Sub-Chaser 1066

Because the beaches were color coded, his role was to tell the waves of Marines or Soldiers which beaches to hit and conquer.

He went up onboard of his ship to watch the flag raised not once but twice on Iwo Jima

He did not sustain any physical wounds, but he did have mental wounds that he is trying to cope with and seeing this memorial brought a lot of bad memories

I had to be at the airport at 4 am, the honorees at 5 am

We left Huntsville at 7 am after walking past the Patriot Guards and a lot of people waving and telling them to have a good flight

When we arrived at Regan Airport in DC, we got the revered water cannon salute when we landed, (that's where a fire truck on each side of the plane shot a stream of water over the plane as it was arriving) it was awesome to see the workers on ground waving flags to the vets on the plane the vets were really excited

92 guardians were waiting at the Ronald Regan International Airport,

once they were met up with their guardians we all headed down to the busses

I was the bus captain, which meant my main concerns were safety, hydration (temp was 90 degrees) and accountability for the veterans, medical personnel the bagpipe player, tour guide and the Flight President, Joe Fitzgerald

Our first stop was the WW II memorial where to meet with some of our Alabama dignitaries, Senator Jeff Sessions, Congressman Robert Aderholt & Parker Griffith

Bob Dole was there waiting for us but with the weather pushing 90 degrees and our tour busses being behind 1-1/2 hours, he couldn't wait.

There was a flag ceremony for the veterans who died in 2008, these flags were flown

up to DC in an F-16 especially for this event and were presented to the surviving family members who flew up and surprised some of the honorees

Second stop was the Women's memorial (near Arlington) where we had lunch

Third was Arlington Cemetery where we watched the Changing of the Guard,

when the guard asked everyone to please stand, even the frail vets in the wheelchairs tried standing, that's when a couple of other vets linked arms with him so he could stand

(that really got me) along with the playing of TAPS (my eyes started leaking)

You could tell the age variances because the most seasoned of the group seemed to really respect and understand this significance of what was happening

Fourth was at the USMC Memorial and another presentation for these vets who fought in that battle, my honoree was at that battle but did not want to go up and get recognized

There were some high school kids from Indiana at that presentation, they were awed to meet these hero's.

After that we took a tour of DC, went by the Vietnam Wall, Korean Memorial, Washington Memorial, Jefferson Monument, White House

Then back to the airport for the return trip to Huntsville AL

I reconnected with my 3 other honorees and onto the plane we went

When we landed, there were over 1000 people waiting, bands playing, Patriot Guards standing at parade rest, people wanting to thank these heroes and shaking their hands,

I heard some music playing while escorting my vet into the terminal, and started doing the Charleston dance down the hall, one of my daughter's friends said there's a lady in a yellow shirt dancing down the hall, Brandi said it's probably my mom, he said black hat and Brandi said YEP

All of the vets said that this was a trip of a lifetime and will forever remember this, said that the guardians went above and beyond to make them comfortable and it was very well organized.

43 of these vets needed the help of wheelchairs so unloading and loading these people took a little extra time

A lot of these vets have never flown or visited DC before

Three of the four were from the Rainbow City & Gadsden AL area,

they had to catch a van at 2:30 am for the 2 hour trip to Huntsville

The forth stayed with his wife in the hotel

My hubby made up a poster board that my grandson held up it said

"AMERICA NEED MORE HEROES LIKE YOU"    

            WELCOME HOME WW II VETS

We were all up for appx 22 hours but it was so exciting

This was my once in a lifetime trip to escort these vets but I plan on being a volunteer for these hero's from now on

candie1971

wow, how cool!! My dad is a WWII vet. Wish he could be involved in something like that.He does go in all our local parades. Good for you for being inthe military. Thank you for all the good work you do!

hugs and prayers

iodine

Outstanding--my eyes are leaking,too.

Well Done!

junie

wonderful and uplifting...what a long, memorable day that was.  Thank you for sharing this experience with us!!!  

lvtwoqlt

My eyes leaked when I first read about you going to be the escort. . . and boy are they leaking now. We honor all the vets at our church several times a year, we have 2 WWII vets left at church and my eyes leak at these events as well as when I hear taps playing.

Sheila