Grateful WWII Vets Recognized with \u2018Honor Flights\u2019 to War Memorial<\/p>\n
Veterans are moved to bittersweet tears and conflicting emotions when they visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., courtesy of the Honor Flight Network.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel good I could come with a group,\u201d a grateful Harley Dingman tells Newsmax.TV.<\/p>\n
But \u201cI feel guilty a little bit that so many of my comrades were left in the cemeteries in France, Belgium and the Netherlands,\u201d acknowledges Dingman, an Army veteran who earned a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.<\/p>\n
Dingman was reflecting on his being among about 1,200 World War II veterans who were able to visit the memorial this month, as Honor Flight works toward its goal of making sure that every veteran of the war gets to visit the memorial dedicated to their bravery and sacrifice.<\/p>\n
Many of the veterans the network takes would have trouble financing the journey themselves or would have difficulty traveling by themselves because of injuries. So the network pays for the trips and provides guardians for the veterans.<\/p>\n
Often, a welcoming committee salutes the visiting heroes.<\/p>\n
Former Sens. Elizabeth and Bob Dole have greeted more than 200 veterans at the memorial. Bob Dole is an honorary advisor to the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to be at the World War II Memorial when our veterans are coming in,\u201d Elizabeth Dole tells Newsmax.TV. \u201cTo be able to thank them for their service \u2014 for saving our country, for saving our world for freedom and democracy \u2014 you just can\u2019t say enough in the way of thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earl Morse, a retired Air Force captain, started the Honor Flight Network.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started back in 2004, when they dedicated this memorial,\u201d he tells Newsmax.TV. \u201cI was a physician\u2019s assistant caring for about 300 World War II veterans in a VA [Veterans Affairs] clinic in Springfield, Ohio.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morse\u2019s patients told him they would make it to the memorial eventually, that their children or Veterans of Foreign Wars Post would take them there. But when the vets would see Morse for follow-up appointments six months later, not one of them had made it.<\/p>\n
\u201cReality set in: They were never going to see their memorial,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Morse, a pilot himself, recruited other flyers, and they took 12 veterans in six airplanes on their initial trip five years ago. Since then, they\u2019ve taken 40,000 vets to the Capitol, including Korean and Vietnam War vets, in addition to their World War II brethren.<\/p>\n
The first priority is World War II vets and the terminally ill vets from the next two wars.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to get every World War II veteran in this nation out to see their memorial,\u201d Morse said. \u201cThis is 2010. This is America. Nobody is going to convince me we can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, World War II vets are dying at the rate of about 1,000 per day. \u201cThere\u2019s a very narrow window of opportunity to get these veterans out here to see their memorial,\u201d Morse said. \u201cIn another five to seven years, it will be a moot point. They\u2019ll be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just an opportunity for the vets, he stresses. \u201cIt\u2019s also America\u2019s last chance to get them here. If there\u2019s anyone out there that appreciates the liberty and freedom that we enjoy today, they\u2019ll help us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The network receives no money from the government and little corporate support. \u201cIt\u2019s a grassroots effort,\u201d Morse says. The group\u2019s web site is www.honorflight.org.<\/p>\n
As for the Korea and Vietnam vets, \u201cthey deserve to see their memorials as well, because their sacrifice and bravery was just as great,\u201d Morse points out. \u201cSo we\u2019re making that happen as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strong bonds between different generations of the armed forces stand out, particularly when Vietnam vets serve as guardians for the World War II vets when they come to Washington, he says.<\/p>\n
When the younger vets guide their elders around the memorial, \u201cperhaps the World War II veteran will shed a tear, and the Vietnam veteran will comfort him,\u201d Morse says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen they go the Vietnam memorial, and you see the Vietnam veterans shed a tear, and the same World War II veterans will come and console them.\u201d<\/p>\n
So there\u2019s a brotherhood and sisterhood among the vets that crosses all generations. \u201cIt\u2019s a gathering of noble people who were willing to risk everything for all the freedom and blessings we enjoy today,\u201d Morse says.<\/p>\n
The World War II vets come to their memorial for two reasons, he says. First, they want to see how the nation is honoring their service.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust as importantly, they want to know how their friends will be remembered: their buddy that never made it off the ship, never made it out of the plane, never made it across the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
And when the vets make the visit, they\u2019re overpowered, Morse says. \u201cIt\u2019s the camaraderie, the appreciation that\u2019s shown for them and the realization that they\u2019re friends will never be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n
A veteran who spoke to Newsmax.TV during this month\u2019s visit concurred, saying: \u201cThe reception we received was outstanding. People couldn\u2019t be nicer. It brought most of us to tears.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Grateful WWII Vets Recognized with \u2018Honor Flights\u2019 to War Memorial Veterans are moved to bittersweet tears and conflicting emotions when they visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., courtesy of the Honor Flight Network. \u201cI feel good I could come with a group,\u201d a grateful Harley Dingman tells Newsmax.TV. But \u201cI feel guilty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}