A friend of mine recently went to Washington D.C. on an Honor Flight. He is one of 159,000 veterans who have made this trip since 2005.
The Honor Flight Network Mission: To transport America’s Veterans to Washington, DC to visit those memorials dedicated to honor the service and sacrifices of themselves and their friends.
This particular flight -- out of Moline, Illinois -- was the first in our area to focus on Vietnam-era veterans.
Don is married to my TMBC friend, Linda. They were both very impressed with our local chapter of the Honor Flight -- and it seems to be driven largely by the sponsorship of our regional grocery store chain, Hy-Vee. After Don signed up to go, he attended an information meeting, and he and Linda also attended a special dinner the week before the flight. They were both surprised by how many volunteers were involved in the Honor flight -- and every event was extremely well organized -- with every possible detail taken care of.
It is a killer schedule. The veterans get to the airport at 5:30 AM. They fly to Washington D.C., get on buses, visit the various Memorials, and arrive back home by10:00 P.M. that night. YOUZA...
Every veteran has a "Guardian".
My sisters and I were having dinner that night -- and Deena was going to the airport to welcome home the Honor Flight. Her son-in-law was one of the Guardians, and her whole family would be there.
I thought it sounded like a GREAT idea -- and I knew both Linda and Don would be surprised to see mel IF I COULD FIND THEM....
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| Because -- THE PLACE WAS PACKED!! |
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| People were singing patriotic songs...and there was am impromptu trumpet player... |
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| I had very little chance of actually FINDING my friend... |
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| AND THEN I SAW THIS..!! |
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| LP has ALWAY known how to dress for the occasion!! |
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| My sister Deb and I were so delighted to be there on that night... |
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| It felt like we were really a part of something special...something important... |
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| When we found him, Don had the biggest smile you can imagine. I think it was a wonderful day, all around... |
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| The entire team was color coded. Every vet wore a gold t-shirt, and every guardian wore blue. The HyVee administrators were in red shirts. |
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| Both Don and Linda wanted to adopt their young guardian...I think his name was Koby. His real family also came out to welcome home this Honor Flight. |
If you or anybody you know is a veteran -- please tell them about
The Honor Flight ...it is a genuinely wonderful thing they are doing, and I was very happy to be even a tiny part of it.
Did you see my posts about Honor Flight? It's one of Jim's charities this year at Grand Master of Washington Masons. They have already sponsored two Honor Flights from our state and a third one is planned in two weeks. As major sponsors, we are able to get gate passes to see them off and to welcome them back. So inspiring.
ReplyDeleteWe seem to often be on a parallel track in this life, Laura. I just went back to read your posts about the Washington State Honor Flights. Good job, Jim!!
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