Honor Flight - Our journey to celebrate Heroes
On August 13, Jeff and I had the privilege of being Guardians on the Honor Flight of the Ozarks. For those not familiar with the Honor Flight program, this is a nationwide program with satellites throughout various states. It is designed as a way to let our Veterans visit their memorials in Washington, DC. This trip is a one day trip and includes stops at many of the monuments and memorials in Washington. Veterans go for free, and the Guardians pay a fee to cover their expenses. Each Veteran has a Guardian for their trip to ensure that they are comfortable and taken care of.
On our flight, we had 81 veterans and 81 guardians, along with medical staff, local Honor Flight coordinators and administrative staff. The veteran that we were assigned to, Chuck, was a Vietnam War Vet. He was a helicopter mechanic during his time in service. We enjoyed getting to know him as we went through the day. We flew out of the Springfield, MO airport at 04:00AM. We left to an Honor Guard and a water salute from a local fire department. We were met with cheers and an Honor Guard at Dulles International Airport and had a police escort from the airport to our first stop - the WWII Memorial. We enjoyed time at the WWII Memorial, Lincoln Monument, Korean Monument, Vietnam Wall and Iwo Jima Monument. We also experienced a changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Experiencing the memorials with the Veterans that they were designed for made this a living history lesson. This was an extremely coordinated day, with many volunteers coming together to give these Veterans the homecoming they so deserved. Driving to and from Dulles airport, our police motorcycle unit escort closed the interstates and held traffic as we passed by in our motorcoaches. Arriving back in Springfield, we had another water salute on the tarmac and were met by state and local officials, news crews, the Shriners concert band, several local honor guards and several hundred people showing their respects and honoring the Veterans with a friendly welcome many of them never got when they returned from fighting for our country.
This was an experience that we will never forget and we would definitely go on another one. We encourage all Veterans to check into their state Honor Flight program. A huge thank you to the Honor Flight of the Ozarks folks for honoring all the Veterans in such a perfect way from beginning to end!
