Pictured at the Georgia portion of the World War II monument are (l-r) veteran William Jackson, guardian Allen Smith and veteran John Dailey.
On October 8th, Honor Flight Fayette completed its 2nd day trip to Washington, D.C. with a precious cargo of WWII veterans. Because their memorial was completed less than 5 years ago, many veterans felt they would never see it due to medical or financial reasons. Honor Flight Fayette took care of those concerns by covering all expenses for these members of the greatest generation as well as providing guardians and medical assistance for them throughout the day. The guardians each paid their own way and medical personnel raised the money needed through donations.
This 501(c)(3) non-profit organization will not accept any money from the veterans and 100% of money raised is used totally for the trip. There is a board of directors to guide this effort and each one of them, as well as guardians, medical personnel and volunteers, gives generously of their time and talents to keep this project going as we are losing these vets at the rate of over 1,400 each day.
The vets started the day at Fayetteville First United Methodist Church with Chick-fil-A biscuits, had box lunches under tents close to the memorial and finished with a catered meal at the USO facility at Reagan Airport.
Fayetteville First Methodist Church and First Baptist Church of Fayetteville provided buses to get everyone to the airport, and the group traveled in comfortable motor coaches around the nation's capitol.
The veterans especially enjoyed the reception they received everywhere they went as crowds of airline employees, travelers and active military personnel greeted them with cheers, hugs and salutes. However, they also were excited to meet Sen. Bob Dole, who was instrumental in getting the WWII monument built and who comes to meet as many honor flight groups from around the country as possible.
"Mail call" on the flight up to D.C. was a favorite also as the veterans read letters written especially to each of them by members of Jo Springer's 5th grade class at Huddleston Elementary school. Many of the vets said they planned to write back to the students and tell them how much their letters meant to them.
If you would like to learn more about this worthwhile organization, be of assistance or donate toward this cause, please check honorflightfayette.org or call 770-719-1024.
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