WWII MEMORIAL

My Father Remembered on Veterans Day

 

A salute to my father Edward Brown on this Veterans Day.  Like many WWII Veterans, he never made a fuss about his military service either before the war on a Destroyers at Pearl Harbor or during the war in Brazil where he was on the crew of a PBY (submarine hunter).  He used to joke that he "learned to sail" during the war.  In fact, he was part of the effort to keep Brazil from German occupation and to get planes across the Atlantic to Europe (Brazil to Africa and then North to Europe being the shortest route).

He instilled a sense of patriotism and service in his children and whenever I look at this picture, I am moved. His name is inscribed behind the inspection plate on one of the eagles and when i am down there, I always think of him. He didn't live to see the Memorial erected but he was an avid fan of construction and would have loved to watch the Memorial being put together.  He was generous, adventuresome and never saw a situation that he didn't make better.

 

Central Iowa, August 11, 2009

As three hunderd and fifty citizens cheered and a band played, 404 Iowans took to the air this morning after a night of celebrations and banquets. When I arrived at the Memorial, forty or so Iowans who had flown out on commercial airplanes were already there and we waited together Fortunately, we had a ten degree break from yesterday's 99 degree weather and the breeze was pleasant.
Honor Flight had made arrangements for cheap airfare so they were able to accompany their loved ones on the trip.  They arrived about 11:30 in eleven buses and any fantasy I had of a group picture went out the door as they spilled out across the Memorial.  Senator Robert Dole arrived soon after followed by Senator Elizabeth Dole and surprisingly, Senator Dole actually did fifteen minutes and we got him out of the heat.  I'll bet you he greeted easily 100 plus veterans while Mrs. Dole charmed the crowd.  The pictures are available for personal use and can be downloaded at the WWII Memorial site.  George Kerestes, National Park Service volunteer, sent me the first five images. Dale Johnson in the wheelchair is 100 years old and the oldest veteran George has had the honor to welcome to the Memorial.

Sun eventually shines!

I arrived at the WWII Memorial to see a clump of plastic raincoats and umbrellas and there was Senator Dole in the midst of the early morning crowd.  The rain soon turned torrential and lightning began to strike and he and Mrs. Dole went to the car for a bit. We thought we would convince him to go home and we did but as he drove out, I noticed him looking over at the Memorial and the vets and I had this feeling he would be back.  I was right.  He smiled and said "I got a haircut..." meaning he had given us all the slip and was free to hang around the Memorial and hang he did for some two hours.  

And just as he returned, the clouds began to clear and five or six buses showed up and with them Jim McLaughln who pitched and took pictures with me.  Between the two of us, we must have gone through a couple of hundred photos and in the end the sun came out, the birds were chirping and it was sunnyville in DC!  I believe that Honor Flight is blessed with good weather and blessed with veterans who really don't care about the weather anyway.  It was just another great day on the Mall.  My new waterproof camera worked great as you can see in the accompanying photo pages.

Chicago Honor Flight: On the March!

The Windy City rolled into DC which should be renamed the "Soggy City" this year. There were ninety-one Veterans and another 90 guardians in blissful tow. They arrived at the Memorial a bit late in the afternoon because they had visited the other Memorials before they got to the WWII to enable the Veterans to appreciate the size of the WWII Memorial. It's eight acres certainly make it the largest of the Memorials and the location is so amazing that it took ten years of legal wrangling to finalize it!

I managed to get photographs of Mary, Jean Marie and Suzanne before they disappeared with their veterans. Today (and for the past few days), a father/son team has dressed in WWII garb to greet the vets.  I've got a few photos of them and will try to get their names for the next post. It's nice to see a father and son working together with the veterans.

I advise Chicago  (and will be glad to advise any Honor Flight) on photo storage and so have had the opportunity to witness "big city" Chicago at work. The committee on the phone conferences is forty-five to fifty people and they are Chicago's most connected. The meetings are run like clockwork so "60 minutes is an hour" and that's the end of the meeting.  They are so successful that 1500 citizens turn up to greet the veterans in Chicago.  A local TV station is doing a 30 minute piece for July 4th weekend.

Al Doehring, National Park Service volunteer, and I had the opportunity to spend some time together discussing the construction of the eagles. it may be time to start sorting through the 15,000 images I have of the construction to show more detail...and get that on a separate historical website....

Fred Wedhorns: Lone Eagle gets "Rock Star" Treatment

From Judy Lemmons, Honor Flight:

A BIG thank you to each one of you for the absolute "service before self" attitude you displayed this past weekend in support of one of our heroes, Mr Fred Wedhorn of Tucson Arizona.  This Lone Eagle wasn't lonely very long.
 
Every detail was thought of and executed with such compassion and patriotism that words cannot express the appreciation of the entire Honor Flight Network not to mention those of our Hero, Mr Wedhorn and his niece, Barbara.
 
I have heard from Barbara this morning and she has expressed over and over how unbelieveable it all was and that he went home knowing what a true Hero he is to all of us.  They are treating him like a "rock star" she said.  But a rock star doesn't come close to what kind of "star" he and the many thousands of "the Greatest Generation" truly are.  These are our Heroes, our role models.
 
And you are mine...I sent out a simple email asking for a volunteer driver to pick him up and escort him to the hotel Friday evening and it turned into a welcome and send-off befitting royalty.  You are each one to be commended for the role you played.  It will always be in your heart of hearts knowing that you gave to one 97 year old soldier, one last hurrah -- to visit HIS memorial.
 
With his arthritic hands held in salute to each one of you, and his heart filled with such utter joy at his experience, will give him hope and peace and at days end, he will know, he is appreciated for his service and sacrifice so many years ago on foreign soil and never forgotten.
 
My favorite quote, and I use it frequently, is very fitting for such a time as this...
 "They may not remember what you did.  They may not remember what you said.  But they will never forget the way you've made them feel.."
 
Thanks to each and everyone of you for "the way you made him feel."...
 
Sincerely and with great admiration and respect.
 Judy Lemmons
Dir, Public Relations/Protocol
Honor Flight Network

Brian Duffy on Honor Flight

We flew a trip on May 16, 2009 with the “regular” array of our WWII heroes. I ushered them through the normal choreography of visiting the WWII Memorial, Iwo Jima Marine Memorial and the Korean War Memorial… in one day.

 When we offloaded at the Korean Memorial, one of the veterans asked….”Brian, are we going to the Vietnam Memorial?”  “No I replied,” and further explained that the trip is aimed at those memorials more pertaining to the WWII veterans;  the Vietnam Wall was not on our agenda.  The crestfallen WWII veteran continued…”I was hoping to finally have a chance to see the Vietnam Wall….you see, my son was killed in Vietnam – I’ve never seen his name.”

I pulled my gut out from the depths that it had fled to, gained some composure, and told him “wait here.” I summoned one of our Guardians, Dan Gillespie, who served in the DC area for many years. I said “Dan, I have a tough mission for you,” as I explained to him what the WWII veteran has just shared with me.  Dan personally escorted the WWII veteran (and our bus) over to the Vietnam Wall. The Park Rangers, WWII veteran, Les Powers  and Iraq veteran, Dan Gillespie reached through time, and had a visit with Edward C. Powers, KIA Vietnam (pictures attached).

 As the sun sets on another Memorial Day, never underestimate the scope of the impact that we are having in Honor Flight! God Bless all of you for your noble efforts – good night.

 With Honor,

 Brian Duffy....

Honor Flight Bluegrass

Dachau...first American into the camp

Okay...so I'm wondering around the Memoriall taking pictures of Veterans and I stopped to jaw with a veteran who turned out to be Fletcher Thorne-Thomsen.  I asked him what he did during the War and much to my surprise, he said " I was the first American into the Dachau Camp!!  Wow...so anyway after I recover, I managed to get this picture of Fletcher. He was apparently was leading a forward artillery observation platoon when they stumbled across Dachau!  He had no idea what was going on and the Germans had abandoned the camp and left the prisoners so he went in by himself to find out what was going on. It's quite a story and it's why it's important that we get our Veterans to tell us what they saw.  Here's his pictures and he's 85 years young and runs a digital imaging business out of Louisanna.  It was great privlege to talk with him and we spent some time going over the details of his adventure.  

Delightful for Ducks

The only critter today not wearing a raincoat was this duck which seemed eminently comfortable despite the waves of downpours which greeted Honor Flights from Chicago, South Carolina, North Dakota and Ohio. Having seen worse, the WWII veterans got out to the Memorial, posed for pictures and had a great time. Senator Dole showed up and waded through crowds of Veterans under the bookstore awning and is seen with Al Bailey introducing him on the Quad Cities bus before departing for work. 

South Carolina lead by Bill Dukes had an inspiring ceremony with flags and quite a crowd by the South Carolina pillar while Jan Merrick's crew posed for pictures near the bookstore. Seth Haring and Marion Watkins worked with Senator Dole.  In the picture below right, Lynne Douglas of the South Carolina Airport authority poses here with two veterans.  My trusty 8400 digicam expired today after taking 5500 images of Honor Flight and other veterans groups.  Time for a new toy!!!

Rain, Rain....go away...

Despite a heavy rain, Michigan, Ohio and Louisiana made their way to the Memorial today.  When I arrived Rick Sage, his wife and Bill and Bobbi Richards were at the WWII Memorial today and were soon joined by Senators Robert and Elizabeth Dole.  While the weather was clearing, the Senators climbed aboard the buses to greet the veterans and in the nice dry confines of the bus had a fun visit with the vets.  

Susan Barr was escorting the groups and both groups were prepared for the weather and were able to hold brief ceremonies at their state columns. Ohio was joined by a tour of Masons from Ohio and it turned out everyone was both a mason and a veteran so there was quite a bit of chit chat down at the Ohio.  Matt Mabe is escorting Senator Dole and it's comforting to have someone from Honor Flight making sure that all goes well.   Dan Arant and Donna Prince have joined Honor Flight as volunteers so the photo contingent will be bigger and better.  The photos can be downloaded at the photo site.

Oneida, New York Veterans Third Year

For the third year in a row and my first group picture of 2009, Erwin Smith of the Oneida Rotary Club made a trip by bus with a group of fifty.  Each year, they decide to extend their stay and this year they are here for three full days.  The weather had just cleared as I arrived about 2:30 and with the exception of one downpour remained pretty wonderful the rest of the day. They will be revisiting the WWII Memorial tomorrow evening. I think that's a great idea as the Memorial and the Mall come to life in the evening. They had their Jewel of the Mall books with them so I was able to sign a few books and point out some features.  Normally, this doesn't work because of logistics but it does feel good to sign books right at the Memorial.  The images I took will be available for download at the Photo Site