Wally Dickerman
11-28-2010, 2:16 PM
Earlier this month I posted on another website a story about my Honor Flight trip to Washington DC to visit the WW2 Memorial. Steve Schlumpf has urged me to post it here. Many of you have fathers and uncles who were in WW2.
Many of you have not heard of Honor Flights. Honor Flights is a non-profit organization operating solely on donations, who flys WW2 vets at no cost, to Washington DC to visit their memorial and to honor them for their sacrifices.
Earlier this month I was part of a group of vets on an Honor Flight from Phoenix, Az. There 25 of us, along with about 10 volunteers to aid and assist us. My daughter went along as one of the volunteers. (I got lots of TLC). Several of the vets were in wheelchairs, several needed assistance to get about. Two were women. The youngest is 84 and the oldest 93. We flew in to the airport in Baltimore and they put us up at the airport Hilton. The next day, after a 6 AM breakfast, they got us all on a tour bus to visit the WW2 Memorial, which wasn't completed until 2004. The Memorial was beautiful and lived up to my expectations. During the day we visited other memorials and also Arlington Cemetary to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier.
Visiting our memorial and others was wonderful and impressive, but to me the most impressive part was the people. The volunteers who put the trip together, who met us as we arrived at the Phoenix airport, and got us aboard the airplane, couldn't have been more helpful. Throughout the trip the many volunteer helpers, especially those who accompanied us, were wonderful. When we arrived at the Baltimore airport a large group of people met us at the gate and clapped and cheered as we got off the plane. They made us feel like a bunch of heros. Everywhere we went we received the same kind of welcome. I think that the most touching to me was when we were visiting the Viet Nam Memorial. By that time I was getting footsore from a lot of walking, so I was in a wheelchair. At least twenty 9 or 10 year old children from a visiting school class came up to and put out their hand to shake my hand and to thank me for my service. Soon I was blinking back the tears. I still get choked up just writing about it.
The reception we received upon returning to the Phoenix Airport on Veteran's Day was amazing. There were hundreds of people at the gate when we got off the airplane. They clapped and cheered and many came forward to shake our hand and to thank us. There were Honor guards from a school ROTC and from service organizations. I doubt if there was a dry eye among the vets.
To all of who went on the trip, this didn't turn out to be just a trip to see our memorial, it was also a very emotional trip. It was a trip that all of us will cherish forever.
Of the sixteen million Americans in uniform during WW2, only about 2 million are left and an estimated 700 are dying every day. I wish that all of them could have the opportunity to share the experience that I had.
Wally Dickerman
Many of you have not heard of Honor Flights. Honor Flights is a non-profit organization operating solely on donations, who flys WW2 vets at no cost, to Washington DC to visit their memorial and to honor them for their sacrifices.
Earlier this month I was part of a group of vets on an Honor Flight from Phoenix, Az. There 25 of us, along with about 10 volunteers to aid and assist us. My daughter went along as one of the volunteers. (I got lots of TLC). Several of the vets were in wheelchairs, several needed assistance to get about. Two were women. The youngest is 84 and the oldest 93. We flew in to the airport in Baltimore and they put us up at the airport Hilton. The next day, after a 6 AM breakfast, they got us all on a tour bus to visit the WW2 Memorial, which wasn't completed until 2004. The Memorial was beautiful and lived up to my expectations. During the day we visited other memorials and also Arlington Cemetary to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier.
Visiting our memorial and others was wonderful and impressive, but to me the most impressive part was the people. The volunteers who put the trip together, who met us as we arrived at the Phoenix airport, and got us aboard the airplane, couldn't have been more helpful. Throughout the trip the many volunteer helpers, especially those who accompanied us, were wonderful. When we arrived at the Baltimore airport a large group of people met us at the gate and clapped and cheered as we got off the plane. They made us feel like a bunch of heros. Everywhere we went we received the same kind of welcome. I think that the most touching to me was when we were visiting the Viet Nam Memorial. By that time I was getting footsore from a lot of walking, so I was in a wheelchair. At least twenty 9 or 10 year old children from a visiting school class came up to and put out their hand to shake my hand and to thank me for my service. Soon I was blinking back the tears. I still get choked up just writing about it.
The reception we received upon returning to the Phoenix Airport on Veteran's Day was amazing. There were hundreds of people at the gate when we got off the airplane. They clapped and cheered and many came forward to shake our hand and to thank us. There were Honor guards from a school ROTC and from service organizations. I doubt if there was a dry eye among the vets.
To all of who went on the trip, this didn't turn out to be just a trip to see our memorial, it was also a very emotional trip. It was a trip that all of us will cherish forever.
Of the sixteen million Americans in uniform during WW2, only about 2 million are left and an estimated 700 are dying every day. I wish that all of them could have the opportunity to share the experience that I had.
Wally Dickerman