AMERICAN GOOD DEED

[Bill Greenwood]

Yesterday American Airlines did a special charter flight from EAA to Washington National and return for 50 WW II vets so that they can visit their memorial at the capitol mall.
Congrats to all.

[eric_stevens]

Bill, that organization is Honor flight and i had nine friends that were on that flight as guardians. The guardians pay their own way. The veterans get the ride for free. honor flight in the Cincinnati area has three more flights planned till the end of the year. If you no any WW2 vet that has not been to the memorial go and look up honor flight online and the will explain how to get the Vet registered. Unfortunately in the trisate area we are having a hard time finding vets who are able to travel. I have not been able to be a guardian yet, but hear it is an experience that will never be forgotten.

Just a little of what went on, on the airplane ride to Washington D.C. the vets had mail call. they were given letters written to them by their own sons, daughters, and now grandchildren. My friends said that the vets were passing them around and that the guardians were crying because of what the letters said. When the aircraft returned that evening it was supposed to occur at the end of the regular show, but due to maintenance it was delayed when they came back they were supposed to be met by an audience holding amercian flags, a missing man formation by the T-6's, and a big band. They were over an hour late, but when they arrived there were still over a 1000 people waiting for them. the CAP cadets formed a line and saluted for each vet. Just being on the ground for that was awesome. the families had signs welcoming the vets home. There were not alot of dry eyes in the house. The organization is a very worthwhile cause.

Well enough rambling from me, Thanks for mentioning this, it did not recieve alot of press up there.

[Steve Nelson]

That's awesome! A friend of mine was an Honor Flight guardian a couple of years ago..he's a fellow airplane nut and model builder, but is absolutely terrified of flying. It was quite a personal stretch for him to get on the plane, but he felt honoring the vets was more than worth it.

I had a chance to visit the WWII Memorial a couple of years ago..it's a really incredible place. Spent a few minutes talking with a vet who was hanging around. He was a truck driver in the MTO. When I introduced my wife and told him she was a nurse, his eyes sparkled and he proclaimed "a nurse saved my life in North Africa!" That made my wife's day!

SN