This is going to be long, but it is
personal, and I hope you all read it all the way.
Howard Huebner, who jumped into Normandy on
D-Day and I, (who was a part of the 517th that jumped into Southern France on
Aug 15, 1944), along with 118 other WWII veterans were treated to a flight to
Washington DC this past Saturday. And, what a day it was. Our
flight was sponsored by Volusia Honor Air, composed of three different
Rotary Clubs in DeLand, FL, along with loads of sponsors, 'guardians' and
friends.
Since the flight was early, I picked Howard
up in Leesburg and we drove to Daytona Beach where we spent the night. We
were to start our journey at the DB Airport at 4:15 AM with
breakfast. Arriving there on time, with a free parking pass, we had coffee
and met others in our group, until our 'guardian' found his group ()no more than
3 veterans), picked up our name tags and boarding passes.
We then went thru the normal security gates
into a lobby where we had breakfast served by even more volunteers, along with
lots of people grasping our hands and saying 'thanks for your service',
giving hugs, etc. It was overwhelming. Then when were ready to
go, we passed thru an Honor Guard that saluted us as we passed onto the
plane.
As the plane was taxiing out to the runway,
a number of fire trucks were spraying water in an arc for our plane to pass
under.
When we arrived in DC, more fire trucks
were giving us a watery welcome, and all the ground crews were waving their
hands and flags in welcome. WOW!! But as we left the plane into the
runway, it was all decorated with red, white and blue flags, strips wrapped
around the hand rails, etc, and when we reached the end, we were met by
Suzanne Kosmas, Congresswoman from the 14th District, who gave each of us a hug
and an American Flag.....passing on into the lobby, we were met by several
hundred people, calling us by name, shaking our hands, hugging us, thanking us
for our service and wishing us a good day...who were these people....I don't
know, but they were young, old, black, white, brown, male, female, the
works.
Before I tear up here, I have to tell you
that in all my years of service, and all my returns home, I have never
been in a parade, nor has any group given me a welcome such as this! I was
in combat in three different wars, but t his was the first really organized
effort I had encountered to say 'thank you for your service'.
We had a full day scheduled, starting with
Arlington Cemetery, and the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier. Back on the busses, the 'guardians' giving their roll call that
all their group was on board, then to the WWII Memorial. We strolled
around, taking photos, and I came across one thing that really made this a
memorial to WWII....in a narrow opening that went down to some of the machinery,
there was the familiar hands, nose and face of "KILROY WAS HERE" scratched into
the granite!!!! I took a photo of it, and I will pass it on to you as soon
as I learn to down load all my photos and select a few.
I have failed to mention that our flight
was one of seven...that's right, seven...Honor Air flights that day. I met
veterans from Yountville, CA, the Dakotas, Michigan, Louisiana, and where
the others come from I don't know. But we all had distinctive shirts and
caps so we wouldn't get mixed up!!!
From there we went to the Library of
Congress where we had lunch, a nice speech and prayer from a Chaplain from
Walter Reed Hospital, Rep. Kosmas and the Director of the
Library.
Next we headed out to the Capitol where we
had a group photo taken with Rep. Kosmas, then back on the busses to see the
Korean War Monument and the Vietnam Wall. As the paths branch off, one
going to the Korean area and the other to the Wall, a Guide as giving a lecture
on the two, with several hundred people in attendance. Also at this
intersection, was a big flag pole, the base with separate sections for each of
the five armed services. I noticed a buck sergeant on his knees polishing
these plates...he had already applied Brasso, and was now polishing the
plates. I asked him if this was 'extra duty' or a volunteer effort....this
being Saturday, it had to be one or the other. His response was that
it was voluntary, so I asked if he had an extra cloth, and down on my knees
(that was a task!) I went, and polished one of the plates. For some reason
or other I got the Marines. Before I finished, another young man dropped
to his knees and helped out. After I had finished my section, that's all
my knees could take, so I stood up and went to the Wall, having already gone to
the Korea area. By the time I returned, yet another young man was helping,
and the plates were shining like new. I asked the Sergeant if he was
stationed here, but turned out (he was a paratrooper) is stationed at Ft Bragg,
but here on temporary duty. I thanked him for his efforts in keeping our
Memorials in shape.
Back on the busses, we next went to see the
Marines statuary of the Marines raising the flag on Mount Hiribashi, then to the
airport ready to go home.
Arriving back in Daytona Beach, I waited on
Howard, who needs the assistance of a walker to get around, so we were the last
to get to the lobby....there was such a gap, I think our 'guardians' thought we
were lost....but, even so, the Honor Guard was still in place, gave us a
full military salute, and, again, there were hundreds of people there to welcome
us back, calling us by name, shaking hands and giving hugs. One young Boy
Scout, in full uniform, gave me his three fingered salute, which I
returned and then shook his hand, and it took us at least 15 minutes to get
out of the terminal...everyone wanted just to touch us, wish us
well and thank us.
I'm not an emotional person...as my
children will tell you....but, this was was of the most emotional days of my
life and I will never forget it. I can't thank all the people who put this
together...it was phenomenal, the time, effort and skills required to put this
all together.
Now, if you are a WWII veteran, or know
someone who is, have them get on line to 'HonorAir' or contact a local
Rotary Club for more information on how to get on this flight. WWII vets
are dying at the rate of over 1,000 a DAY, so there are not many days left for
them to see this. Everything was in place, doctors, nurses, wheel chairs,
cold water....you name it, it was available. If it had rained we
would all have been provided ponchos, but the weather was
beautiful.
My hat is off to the Rotary Clubs and
all their sponsors and friends who made this
possible.
Thank you for taking the time to read
this....phil mc spadden