Mission Accomplished!

[52 Ragtop]

Yesterday, April 20, 2013, Indy Honor Flight 2 took 70 WWII Veterans to Washington DC for a wonderful one day trip to see "Their" WWII Memorial!
We left the Indiana National Guard 38th Armory @ 6:15 am (with a Police escort) in 4 buses heading over to the Indianapolis Airport to our chartered Air Bus 320. Wheels up by 8 am, and landed at Reagan International at approx. 9:30 am. to a lot cheers and clapping by not just the Honor Flight Ground Crew in DC, but, US Air got the whole airport involved! The Dc Ground Crew also had a swing band and some lovely ladies dressed up in the 40's style! It was fantastic and the smiles on these guys faces showed it.

Arrived at the WWII Memorial (with Police escort) @ 10:30. We spent a few hours walking around the WWII Memorial, a GREAT number of folks were coming up to all the Veterans Thanking them and shaking their hands! Then we assembled for a group photo at noon. That photo was then emailed to the Walgreens Drug Store in Danville Indiana so an 8 x 10 could be given to each Veteran as they returned to Indy.
Then it was off to Arlington National Cemetery for the changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown, with a brief Q & A in the amphitheater with one of the Park Rangers afterwards.

Then we went back over the Potomac River and spent time at the Lincoln, Korean and Vietnam Memorials, Then back on the buses and back to Reagan Airport, where there was an Honor Guard, another Swing Band, and more dancers and greeters!

Back on the plane, we had "Mail Call" each Veteran received a (rather large) packet of mail from friends, family and strangers, most of them had tears running down their faces.

Arriving back at the Indianapolis Airport, Our friends from Walgreens were there, ans issued a nice 8x10 photo to each Veteran, at that point, these guys "assumed" their great day was over. But, NO! We had arranged a Homecoming, which most of them never got, at the NG Armory. We had 38 Patriot Riders holding American Flags, a small band and about 2500 people inside the Armory to welcome them home! The cheers and hootin' and hollerin' was just as loud for the last Veteran that walked through the door, as it was for the first!

What a great day! We will take "a day or two" off, and then begin the start if Indy Honor Flight 3!

To find an Honor Flight near you, go to www.honorflight.org

Jim

[53k]

Great story! Thanks.
It seems as if at least every other obituary in the local paper is for a WW II veteran, many in their 90s.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Great effort by all involved!

[Skip Lackie]

[63 R2 Hawk]

What a tribute for those who put their lives on the line for our country!

[hawk58man]

Thanks for "Not forgetting our Veterans!" ,I also know how difficult it is to bring a Veteran and escort to D.C." to pay there respects to those who have served before them and those who they served with". In Spokane, Wa. we have a very active ''Honor Flight" to D.C. I appreciate ALL that you have done for us, the Veterans and Veteran's Families. This is extremely important and needs to be continued. Remember, this is ALL donations from private companies and citizens, there is no funding from the government as far as I know. So your donations to "'Honor Flights'' and Veterans organizations is greatly needed and appreciated. Because without donations, some Veterans would probably die before they were able to attend. Thank you ALL for caring . It was my Honor to serve in the United States Air Force from 1Aug.70 to 1 Apr 91.

[BobPalma]

Very cool, Jim; congrats on another good mission.

'Looking forward to having your answer to the question Skip posed. I hadn't thought about those things until Skip mentioned them. I personally thought the WWII monument was impressive when I saw it, but can also understand what Skip says.

So, did any of the Vets comment in a manner that would answer Skip's query?

Incidentally, we were listening to "Jersey Johnny(?)" on WNDE(?) Sports Saturday afternoon. He was reporting from the event in DC as he was a Guardian for one of the Vets. They went long on the segment; I'm sure he spent the better part of 12 minutes describing being there and everything the Vets were doing, all very positive (and emotional). BP

[Bill Pressler]

Geez, wonderful story...thanks for posting but better yet, thanks for participating in the whole thing!

[52 Ragtop]

Skip,
These guys were very impressed with the WWII Memorial. Yes, it was a LONG time coming! Most if not all just don't think they did ANYTHING special! They do not look at themselves as Heroes, like we (the Honor Flight program) does. They went, did a job, came home, and went back to work, usually not speaking about it again. These trips due a few things: 1) they get them to Dc to see their Memorial, 2) they open up to their Guardian and others on the flight, 3) they let out over 60+ years of emotions that have been held in for so long.
Have you ever seen 70 85 and up year old men cry at the same time? Be on an Honor Flight 5 minutes after they start reading the mail that they get from: family, friends, neighbors and strangers! We just called one of our Veterans, he was still in bed at 11 am this morning, and is still tired! (I got up earlier, but I too am still tired)! <G>

Yes Bob, Jersey Johnny was on the flight, he & I have made BOTH Indy Honor Flights! I did not know he had called in to WIBC. Johnny is about as down to earth as anybody, and he makes no big deal of his Sports Program.

Amoung the letters in the Mail Call, were a letter from Jim Irsay, and another on from Chuck Pagano, BOTH letters were personally signed by each, NOT a stamp! Only complaint on those were: They did NOT contain tickets to a Colts game! <G> But seriously, now that we have our 2nd flight under our belts, (and this flight went off without a hitch)! we are getting more and more community support.

On this flight, I was what is called a Bus Captain, I personally met ALL 25 Veterans on my bus, as well as all 25 Guardians. All day long, they were thanking all of us on the board. The smiles that I saw yesterday, I WILL remember for the rest of my life! And all day long I kept telling these guys, "We had it pretty easy, as NOBODY was shooting at us" and the fact that this is one of the most rewarding experiences that I've ever had.

What a way to be around a "real" Hero, and learn first hand about some things that went on during WWII. We've had Veterans from: Battle of the Bulge", D-Day, Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, Midway, and the Phillipines just to name a few, and another Veteran that worked in the Attorney Generals office with Bobby Kennedy! Can you imagine the stories they CAN'T tell?

We've had Guardians that have been aboard the USS Nimitz, In the situation room in the Pentagon,

Jim