Veteran Honor Flight

Last Wednesday my grandfather, "Honey", had the opportunity of a lifetime. He had the honor of going to Washington DC on a "Veteran Honor Flight". Honor flight is an incredible non-profit organization created to honor American Veterans by flying these heroes to Washington DC free of cost for the day to visit the WWII memorials built in their honor.

My mom, sister, and both of my grandmothers had the honor of welcoming these heroes home at the end of an incredibly long day when they arrived back at the Birmingham airport. What a special experience! They waved their flags and chanted "U.S.A" as the Veterans filed off the plane. Rachael has great pictures from that night that I hope to add soon.

John and I had the privilege Saturday to visit with Honey and Grandmother and hear all about the trip and the day's events. Honey said they were fed all day and treated like kings. Much to Honey's surprise a few of the men also attending the trip attend their church and several others worked at the telephone company with Honey for years! Grandmother said she can not think of anything he has gotten to do that he has enjoyed more. A friend of the family said that with out a doubt Honey won "the best hair award!"

The following was written by my Aunt's friend who had the honor of going on the trip to assist her family member and shared the pictures below.
"In case Roy didn't tell you, the veterans were treated like VIPs all the way. In Baltimore, airport firetrucks greeted them with watercannon salutes, and the jetway was lined with a gauntlet of uniformed military standing at full attention. The Baltimore chapter of Honor Flight greeted them with cheers and flag waving, and a police escort led the buses to DC. The last pictures are of the welcoming they received in Birmingham where there were more military members saluting; some of them were choked up too. I heard many of our guys say that they knew it would be their last chance to make the trip, and they were so grateful to have had the opportunity."

Gov. Riley, Elizabeth Dole, & Spencer Bachus met them at the WWII Memorial & are in the group pictures. Mrs. Dole brought her terrier, & he's in the front of the group photo between the two coordinators.

I love the Honor Flight slogan:
"We can't all be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they go by."....Will Rogers"










Below is an article from the Birmingham news about this flight. How wonderful Honey's excellent health allowed him to enjoy this special day!




Tears, applause, gratitude reign for Birmingham, Alabama WW II veterans honor flight to D.C.
Monday, August 03, 2009
TOM GORDON
News staff writer
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/metro.ssf?/base/news/1249287351317430.xml&coll=2
WASHINGTON - Fewer than 30,000 living Alabamians now can claim to have served in what has been called the "Good War."

Now, often walking with the help of another hand, a pronged cane or sitting in a wheelchair - and all too aware of the fast-paced thinning in their ranks - groups of these World War II vets are making their way to the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall.

One hundred of them from Alabama came here last week, and as they arrived and as they left, they found themselves shaking hands with grateful strangers.
"I'm glad the American people still remember the World War II veterans," said 83-year-old Birmingham Army veteran Frank Mann. "A lot of young people don't remember World War II."

Young Americans in uniform were an exception last week. Lines of them applauded as the Alabamians arrived at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. In the evening, as the Alabamians walked or rode in wheelchairs toward their boarding gate for the flight back to Birmingham, groups of Marines, soldiers and National Guard members on their way to Iraq and Afghanistan were walking alongside.

Mann and others talked with them, and wished them well.

The Alabama vets had made the Washington trip through Honor Flight Birmingham, one of the hubs for a national program that enables World War II-era veterans to make a daylong, free of charge visit to the nation's capital to visit the WW II Memorial and other monuments.

The Alabamians had arrived at around 5:30 a.m. at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport and came back after 8 p.m. to the cheers of relatives, friends and a saluting gantlet formed by honor guards from the Pelham and Center Point fire departments.

By that time, the returning vets had generated new memories and revived old ones, spurred by their time together and their time at the WWII memorial, which opened seven years ago.

"I think it's a fine edifice representing the guys that fought, and particularly the guys that we lost in World War II," said Navy vet James Lambert, 82, of Argo, who served in the Pacific. "I was sitting up on a bench, resting a while ago after we had made the rounds, thinking about the guys that had been lost, and you can just almost hear them talking. You can feel it."

Last week's trip was the seventh and the largest put together by Birmingham Honor Flight since it began the trips in 2007. Amy McDonald, an American history teacher at Shades Valley High and one of the program's co-directors, compared it to a field trip. It certainly involves people - in this case, 165 - but large quantities of other things.
Here is a snapshot:

Seven cases of bottled water, 166 breakfast biscuits, 165 brownies, 165 bags of potato chips and 250 napkins from Chick Fil A.

168 cereal bars and 240 packs of peanut butter crackers from Wood Fruitaker.
45 wheelchairs, 15 each loaned by Midsouth Home Health and Medirest and 15 donated by Mobility Central, plus two oxygen concentrators from O'Neal Medical.

Three EMT medical bags, 50 sunscreen towelettes and 350 anti-bacterial wipes from Noland Health Services.

And to make herself heard by a group in which more than a few folks sported hearing aids, Birmingham Honor Flight's other co-director Pam Nichols, a marketing officer at Noland Health, had a megaphone, loaned by Center Point Fire Department battalion chief Gene Coleman.

After arriving at Baltimore-Washington, the group bought 180 roast beef sandwiches, a cooler of bottled water for each of the three chartered buses that would take the vets and their guardians to Washington and 10 additional cases of water. Each bus had an EMT, drawn from the ranks of the guardians.

Later, before the group boarded the flight back home, Nichols, McDonald & Co. would buy 165 more sandwiches and soft drinks.

Overall, the trip's expenses averaged about $400 per person. It would have been higher if the guardians were not required to pay their air fare.

To hear trip participants afterward, the sum was well spent. The gratitude they got from strangers as they made their way around the WWII memorial, as well as the reception they received upon their arrival in Baltimore, were bonuses.

"I wanted my father to see this," said a tearful Deborah Mitchell, a registered nurse who was the guardian for her father, Army vet Clifford Baugh of Pell City, and pushed his wheelchair around the walkway of the WWII memorial. "Then I saw the people welcome him at the airport, and I've had tears in my eyes the whole time. I appreciate the Honor Flight people, and I want to work with them. I've decided to do that as one of my civic contributions, and I would encourage everybody else to."

On their bus ride back to Baltimore, Frank Mann and other vets had a teardrop moment, courtesy of the driver.

"His name was Bob," Mann said. "He said, `I want to thank y'all for your service,' and it got real quiet. He said, `I want you to know I'm proud of you, and I'm glad I volunteered to drive this bus to be with the veterans ...' Isn't that something?"

Those interested in making a Washington trip through Honor Flight Birmingham, or making a donation to support the organization's efforts can call 205-714-3156, send a Fax to 1-800-862-9956, or e-mail honorflightbham@aol.com. They also can write the organization at 1401 Doug Baker Blvd., 107-185, Birmingham, 35242. The Web address is www.honorflightbirmingham.com.

E-mail: tgordon@bhamnews.com
© 2009 The Birmingham News. All rights reserved.