I had never heard of Honor Flight and he was kind enough to email me a description of his trip that was printed in his American Legion newsletter for June and permission to share it here.
From Glenn Thompson...Attendee of 2011 Honor Flight
On April 26, 2011, Dennis Kavanaugh and I joined a group of WW II veterans and went to Washington, D.C. to visit the WW II Memo- rial, courtesy of the Honor Flight Organization. ( www.honorflight.org ) The vets met at Sky Harbor Airport at 8:00 AM on Tuesday the 26th and were met by a group of dedicated Honor Flight volunteers who took care of handling our baggage and all of our needs. There we were issued Honor Flight T-shirts which we donned there and wore for the entire expedition. We were also issued a great box lunch for the trip
We left Phoenix at 10:20 AM and arrived in Baltimore at8:15 PM. We were allowed to board the airplane before the regular passengers. Then on arrival in Baltimore, we disembarked together and as we entered the airport an announcement was made that we were WW II vets and the crowd went wild with cheering and clapping and as we made our way through the lines, everyone offered handshakes and “Thank-you’s”. It was really heart warming.
We then were bussed to our hotel where after a short time of freshening up, we were dined in a hall in the hotel. Wednesday morning we received a wake-up call at 5:00 AM, had breakfast in the hotel and boarded our bus at 7:00 AM for a trip to Washington. First stop was the Capitol Building from 8:45 until 11:30 when we took the bus again and moved to the World War II Memo- rial followed by a move to the Vietnam Wall, the Lincoln Memorial, the Air Force Memorial and the Korean Memorial. Next stop was the Iwo Jima Memorial from which we were bussed to Arlington National Cemetery for the 5 o'clock changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. After that whirlwind tour of activity we returned to the hotel in Baltimore. There we attended another banquet and short talks from the floor regarding our experience. Wednesday night we were allowed to sleep in until our 7:00 AM wake-up call came. We had breakfast in the hotel again and boarded the bus at 8:45 for a trip to Fort McHenry, the site a battle during the War of 1812 when the national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key. At 10:45 we proceeded to the Baltimore Airport. Box lunches were passed out and we took a plane to HOME, Phoenix, Arizona. On the plane we received packets of letters and Thank You notes from family and friends which had been sent to the Honor Flight Organization for distribution on the way home. What a delightful surprise. At Sky Harbor we were met again with cheers and thanks with an American Legion Honor Guard, a Junior CAP unit and many friends and well-wishers. Enough can’t be said of the Honor Flight Volunteers. They were wonderful and took great care of us. I told Daisy, my wife, that I was spoiled and she would have to take better care of me...it was worth a try.
Glenn Thompson
Web Master: www.fightingfourtharizona.com And www.post75sunnyslope.com
Two of these men fought there.
From left to right:Glenn Thompson, Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima.
Don Casey, 1st Marine Division, Pelilu and Okinawa
Dennis Kavanaugh, 4th Marine Division, Iwo Jima
Once a Marine, Always a Marine
The entire group hosted on Mr. Thompson's Angel Flight trip
On April 26, 2011, Dennis Kavanaugh and I joined a group of WW II veterans and went to Washington, D.C. to visit the WW II Memo- rial, courtesy of the Honor Flight Organization. ( www.honorflight.org ) The vets met at Sky Harbor Airport at 8:00 AM on Tuesday the 26th and were met by a group of dedicated Honor Flight volunteers who took care of handling our baggage and all of our needs. There we were issued Honor Flight T-shirts which we donned there and wore for the entire expedition. We were also issued a great box lunch for the trip
We left Phoenix at 10:20 AM and arrived in Baltimore at8:15 PM. We were allowed to board the airplane before the regular passengers. Then on arrival in Baltimore, we disembarked together and as we entered the airport an announcement was made that we were WW II vets and the crowd went wild with cheering and clapping and as we made our way through the lines, everyone offered handshakes and “Thank-you’s”. It was really heart warming.
We then were bussed to our hotel where after a short time of freshening up, we were dined in a hall in the hotel. Wednesday morning we received a wake-up call at 5:00 AM, had breakfast in the hotel and boarded our bus at 7:00 AM for a trip to Washington. First stop was the Capitol Building from 8:45 until 11:30 when we took the bus again and moved to the World War II Memo- rial followed by a move to the Vietnam Wall, the Lincoln Memorial, the Air Force Memorial and the Korean Memorial. Next stop was the Iwo Jima Memorial from which we were bussed to Arlington National Cemetery for the 5 o'clock changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. After that whirlwind tour of activity we returned to the hotel in Baltimore. There we attended another banquet and short talks from the floor regarding our experience. Wednesday night we were allowed to sleep in until our 7:00 AM wake-up call came. We had breakfast in the hotel again and boarded the bus at 8:45 for a trip to Fort McHenry, the site a battle during the War of 1812 when the national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key. At 10:45 we proceeded to the Baltimore Airport. Box lunches were passed out and we took a plane to HOME, Phoenix, Arizona. On the plane we received packets of letters and Thank You notes from family and friends which had been sent to the Honor Flight Organization for distribution on the way home. What a delightful surprise. At Sky Harbor we were met again with cheers and thanks with an American Legion Honor Guard, a Junior CAP unit and many friends and well-wishers. Enough can’t be said of the Honor Flight Volunteers. They were wonderful and took great care of us. I told Daisy, my wife, that I was spoiled and she would have to take better care of me...it was worth a try.
Glenn Thompson
Web Master: www.fightingfourtharizona.com And www.post75sunnyslope.com
Two of these men fought there.
From left to right:Glenn Thompson, Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima.
Don Casey, 1st Marine Division, Pelilu and Okinawa
Dennis Kavanaugh, 4th Marine Division, Iwo Jima
Once a Marine, Always a Marine
The entire group hosted on Mr. Thompson's Angel Flight trip
Thank you for your post honoring vets. They have given so much. My family was there, as well:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/64au22b
Have a peaceful Fourth of July.