Some can still walk; others use canes or walkers. Some have to use wheelchairs. They are the last remnants of the Greatest Generation who served in World War II. Their average age is 93. To me, they are all giants who helped to defeat tyranny. They changed the world in the process.
Last week I was privileged to accompany one of them to go to Washington DC to see the memorial dedicated to their service. Some of you wrote letters to him to open on the return flight home. Dick Plowden was an Army Air Corps lieutenant who flew P-47s in ground support missions against the Germans over the Rhine river. He once had to bail out when his plane, crippled by flak, could no longer fly. His face was severely cut in the process by the shards from his shattered canopy. He received the Purple Heart in the process.
Please do go to Honor Flight Arizona: Flying Arizona veterans to see the Veteran Memorials in Washington to learn about the wonderful job this dedicated organization is doing. They fly WWII vets to DC to see the war memorials, with emphasis on the WWII memorial completed in 2004. There is no charge to the vets for the trip; guardians (such as me) pay our own way. Sadly, 75% of the WWII vets have passed and will never see the memorial. Honor Flight is determined to fly all of the remaining vets to see the lately-built memorial dedicated to them.
I took many pictures on the trip – here are a few of them:
Dick Plowden in the Phoenix airport prior to the trip:
Here's Dick on the Southwest Airlines flight to St. Louis, our stopover on the way to Baltimore, with some great flight attendants:
…and Dick got a nice reward for his service:
Here's a group shot of the vets who took this trip at the WWII memorial:
Here's a pic of the interior of the memorial – way too big to get into one picture:
The memorial is in close proximity to the Washington monument, seen here:
Here's Dick and me, posing for posterity:
Dick is next to a quote by Harry Truman at the memorial:
Dick and I taking a break beside the Potomac river, near the FDR memorial:
We made a stop at Arlington to view the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns:
The flag at Arlington is lowered each evening with great reverence:
I made a point of visiting the Vietnam Wall to make a rubbing of the name of a good friend I lost in that war - Ed Cribb. A true hero.
Dick was delighted to see the Air Force memorial – he was a colonel in the AF reserves after the war:
A highlight of the trip was a visit to Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled banner. Amazingly, the fort is still intact and mostly original.
Here's Dick receiving tons of letters at mail call on the return trip. Thanks to everyone who wrote!
Home at last. An exhausting but unforgettable journey for these wonderful vets, and for me as well.
Last week I was privileged to accompany one of them to go to Washington DC to see the memorial dedicated to their service. Some of you wrote letters to him to open on the return flight home. Dick Plowden was an Army Air Corps lieutenant who flew P-47s in ground support missions against the Germans over the Rhine river. He once had to bail out when his plane, crippled by flak, could no longer fly. His face was severely cut in the process by the shards from his shattered canopy. He received the Purple Heart in the process.
Please do go to Honor Flight Arizona: Flying Arizona veterans to see the Veteran Memorials in Washington to learn about the wonderful job this dedicated organization is doing. They fly WWII vets to DC to see the war memorials, with emphasis on the WWII memorial completed in 2004. There is no charge to the vets for the trip; guardians (such as me) pay our own way. Sadly, 75% of the WWII vets have passed and will never see the memorial. Honor Flight is determined to fly all of the remaining vets to see the lately-built memorial dedicated to them.
I took many pictures on the trip – here are a few of them:
Dick Plowden in the Phoenix airport prior to the trip:
Here's Dick on the Southwest Airlines flight to St. Louis, our stopover on the way to Baltimore, with some great flight attendants:
…and Dick got a nice reward for his service:
Here's a group shot of the vets who took this trip at the WWII memorial:
Here's a pic of the interior of the memorial – way too big to get into one picture:
The memorial is in close proximity to the Washington monument, seen here:
Here's Dick and me, posing for posterity:
Dick is next to a quote by Harry Truman at the memorial:
Dick and I taking a break beside the Potomac river, near the FDR memorial:
We made a stop at Arlington to view the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns:
The flag at Arlington is lowered each evening with great reverence:
I made a point of visiting the Vietnam Wall to make a rubbing of the name of a good friend I lost in that war - Ed Cribb. A true hero.
Dick was delighted to see the Air Force memorial – he was a colonel in the AF reserves after the war:
A highlight of the trip was a visit to Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled banner. Amazingly, the fort is still intact and mostly original.
Here's Dick receiving tons of letters at mail call on the return trip. Thanks to everyone who wrote!
Home at last. An exhausting but unforgettable journey for these wonderful vets, and for me as well.
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