Reporting back from Honor Flight experience

My grandfather took part in the Central Missouri Honor Flight program and their October 13th trip to DC. I thought I'd make a post to provide my thoughts on the experience and share some photos in hopes of enlightening other WWII veterans to make this worthwhile trip to see THEIR memorial. Before I get to the details, let me just summarize that this was truly a once in a lifetime experience and one for which I'll be forever thankful to have taken part of.

After seeing some local St. Louis coverage from an Honor Flight, my wife encouraged me to get my grandfather to sign up. I did some leg work and found the Central Missouri chapter and started talking to him about going out to DC. I sent him the application paperwork expecting him to balk at the thought of making his first flight at age 84. I also expected that he would not be willing to leave his wife's side at her nursing home as he helps with her daily feedings. Needless to say, I didn't expect him to so quickly submit his paperwork. He had excitement for this trip from day 1!

Once his group's flight arrangements were made, I made similar trip arrangements for my father and I to also be in DC to meet up with the group at the Memorial and to also meet them at Arlington which was their second scheduled stop. Since neither of us have any medical training we were not able to sign up as a group guardian to directly accompany the vets on the trip. However, a recent former co-worker of mine now lives in DC and helped tremendously with lining up our options in order to best meet up and follow the group. DC has great public transportation options!

My grandfather and his group arrived at their memorial around noon after getting a quick bus tour of the DC mall area (White House, Capitol, etc.) and enjoyed a somewhat brief but entirely worthwhile hour of time walking around their memorial. Towards the end of their free hour, the group got together for a group photo in front of the Wall of Stars. From there they boarded their charter bus for the trip to Arlington.

Fortunately my father and I were able to use the Metro system and arrived at Arlington around the same time as the veteran group was departing the buses. From there, the group was going to board the on site trams to view the Tomb of the Unknown and possibly the Changing of the Guard if time allowed. However, due to some delays in the overall trip and at Arlington we were not able to join them at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before needing to catch our returning flight to St. Louis. We were able to wait around until the group caught their tourmobile.

The trip will always be one to remember. Not only were there 75+ proud veterans there from the Missouri area, they were joined around 12:30 by over 500+ proud veterans from Iowa. By that time, the WWII Memorial was one busy place! For me, it will most likely serve as the largest gathering of WWII vets that I will ever have the honor of experiencing. Let's just say for most of us non-veterans on site, we spent a lot of time constantly saying Thank You and smiling/nodding/etc. to each passing veteran during their visit. There was certainly a lot of interest and discussion from the general tourist who just happened to be at the memorial during this time. The veterans were certainly getting their time in the spotlight!

To help close my story, let me say that my grandfather was treated in the best manner by the Honor Flight network. He greatly appreciated his trip and the chance to view the memorial. I know that we would never have convinced him to go out there with just family to view the site. The fact that these trips are arranged with all of the special care considerations for the aging veterans certainly helped put his mind at ease regarding any physical limitations.

(I'll likely post add'l comments or changes as I have additional time to recoup from my recent trip and after having further discussions with my grandfather)

Seems one of the biggest impressions on my grandfather from this trip was his first flight. Not only did he immediately describe his first flight to us when we met at the Memorial but even the night following his trip he was still describing seeing the clouds from above. I guess after spending 84 years of life seeing the clouds from only the ground level, seeing the clouds from above really left an impression. He certainly is still excited from yesterday's trip and even took my father and mother out to eat tonight in "celebration" of his trip. My grandfather also mentioned to me he appreciated me being persistent with him in taking this trip. I think he knows he needed that extra push to take this trip.

(more updates to follow)

A journalist from the local hometown paper came over to my grandfather's house yesterday to interview him about his wartime experiences and to discuss the Honor Flight. They spent over an hour talking (probably with him doing most of the talking) and took several photos with him in front of his medal display box and a photo of him and his wife taken during the war years (him in military dress). The article is supposed to print next week and I'll be sure to add it to this post to further reflect his experiences from the Honor Flight. (update: news article added in below post reply)

I got to speak to him further about their time at Arlington. They were not able to take in the changing of the guard but did stop by to view the Tomb of the Unknown. From there, the tram took them thru the grounds and pointed out many of the notables and various memorials that are on the grounds there. He enjoyed his time there as well.

Update: Seems the local media coverage continues post Honor Flight. After the recent newspaper feature article, a local radio station from a nearby city called to interview him about his experience on the Honor Flight. He sure has stayed excited ever since his trip! I'm just thankful he can enjoy all of this at this time in his life. I'm anxiously waiting to hear of when the radio interview will play!

*Update: I was able to hear the recording of the interview today. He retold most of the story printed in the local paper. The radio host asked if visiting the Memorial brought back a lot of memories. Grandpa indicated it did and that he really enjoyed seeing the various relief pictures that depict the various war fronts, home, European and Pacific. He also said he's looking forward to the upcoming Welcome Home event that the Honor Flight group is hosting for the October 13th flight participants. He is proud of the photo album he has and looks forward to going there to talk to the rest of the veterans. He mentioned to the radio host that with all going on during the trip and with the seating arrangements on the bus and the airplane, it was hard to take time to visit with the various veterans. I really hope he enjoys the upcoming event and stays in touch with some of the new friends. In his small hometown, he has already outlived many of his peers from the time and I think he'll enjoy conversing with others from the same vintage.

Columbia MO NBC affiliates coverage of Honor Flight:
http://www.komu.com/satellite/Satel...4c70b769/512f88e9-80ce-0971-012f-024aa80ed882

National Honor Flight website:
www.honorflight.org

Central Missouri Honor Flight website:
http://www.centralmissourihonorflight.com/

Enjoy the pics.

View from Old Post Office tower:


Mall view:






Grandfather arriving:




3 Generations:

 

Some new friends were made:






Group pic - blue shirts were the guardians:

 

My dad's shirt got attention from the start of our day till the end:




Great quote for the veterans shirts as well:


Said our goodbye's at Arlington yet still managed to meet up at STL Lambert airport:

 

Thank you for the pics, and the post. Great stuff!

 

your story and pictures bring me to tears!! i wish i could get my grandfather to go so bad.. I am hoping that after this Nov 11th he will change his mind for next year.. I think it is wonderful that you went with him and got him to go!! Amazing story and pics thank you so much for sharing!!!!!!

 

Glad all of you have enjoyed my story and photos. I was rather emotional during the trip as well. While I obviously intend to get back to DC again soon, I know it was a once in a lifetime experience to be there with both my grandfather and my dad. Words can't describe the true experience and I really do hope my story here might help others decide to make the trip. I still believe that my grandfather changed his mind after seeing the various media reports from previous trips. While he has thanked me several times for staying persistent with him, I know the news articles and TV reports really helped him decide to sign up for the trip.

Anyway, finally had a chance to download some of the video taken during the trip. Enjoy!





Here is the video that shows the veterans also there on hand from Iowa (yellow shirts)


Arriving back in STL (delayed flight)

 

As mentioned above, my grandfather was interviewed by the local paper. Here is the article they published. As you can tell, he is quite proud of his time in the service as well as his time on the Honor Flight.




They even re-ran an old article on the 156th General Hospital unit where he served in Foxley, England as a surgical assistant.

 

Found the online video content from the group's trip:
New Ozarks Honor Flight program aims to fly WW2 veterans to D.C. | KY3 News, Weather, Sports - Springfield, MO | Ozarks Honor Flight

Looks like they used the Central MO flight to kick off the Ozark MO Honor Flight hub. Great to see more chapters open up and get more and more veterans out to see THEIR memorial!

I was also surprised to see the fire truck spraying down the jet as they were taxiing into BWI. My grandfather mentioned that there were firetrucks along the "runway" shooting water across the plane. I have to admit I was a little uncertain as to how the trucks could have been doing that in today's strict airport environment. I guess somehow, they have permission to welcome the veterans on each flight by spraying water from both sides. Very cool regardless.

Another local Mid-MO online article:
http://www.lakenewsonline.com/commu...emorial-about-the-buddies-who-didnt-come-home

 

From one Missourian to another, great story !! Once in a lifetime and it doesn't get any better than this.

 

This is likely the final follow up I have to this post. The final portion of the Honor Flight program is to have a "Welcome Home" event for the flight participants in the weeks following the flight. My grandfather highly anticipated going to this gathering and was anxious to show everyone the photo album I put together for him with all of the photos taken during the actual trip to DC. I wasn't able to attend but my parents accompanied him and took the following photos. He had a great time and only wishes it would have been a little more structured to allow for more conversing between the veterans. It was a little more program oriented than expected and there wasn't time to just sit around and chat. He still had a great time though and more than thankful for the entire Honor Flight experience.

Here he is with the newscaster from KOMU (Columbia, MO NBC affiliate station):






I believe this one was taken during the start of the program that evening:


I greatly appreciate the comments in the above posts. I really hope that perhaps my post will help convince another WWII vet to make this trip to see THEIR memorial. I am so thankful that my grandfather decided to go and that both my father and I were able to be there to take part in the memorable day. Definitely a highlight of our year! (and that is probably an understatement!)