Honor Flight Chicago
Midway Airport, June 29th, 2011
I was honored to serve as a volunteer Guardian to escort two WWII Veterans to Washington, DC to see their WWII Memorial
It was truly a memorable trip for both the Veterans and myself.
Midway Airport 3 a.m.
Guardians are in the lime green tshirts
Volunteer ground crew in Orange tshirts
Veterans all wore the grey tshirts
My two Veterans WWII Army, Rich Kowall and Jim Zappa
Breakfast at the gate, catered by Harry Carey's Restaurant
Waiting at the gate at Midway to board the Southwest Charter Jet and listening to the
"Legacy Girls" from the USO
Breakfast was served and catered from Harey Carey's Restaurant
All Guardians sat in the aisle seats. Guess we had to keep an eye on our Veterans!
Landing at Dulles Airport in DC.
The fire engine saluted the plane by hosing the left side of the plane
Children waiting to welcome our Veterans to DC
My one Veteran, Rich Kowall and his Grandson, who met us at Dulles.
He is a Marine and is an Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery
Our big jet
First stop and Lunch was the Air Force Memorial
Maggie, a DC Guardian with her WWII Veteran
The Pentagon as seen from the Air Force Memorial
Second stop WWII Memorial and Special Memorial Service
Rich Kowall and Jim Zappa on the right
Third stop was the Korean War Memorial
Jim and Rich
Lincoln Memorial
The Viet Nam Nurses Memorial
Viet Nam Memorial Statue
The last stop before heading home was the Smithsonian's
Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum where I was able to show my two veterans my grandfather's exhibits. Below is the Enola Gay.
Heading back to Chicago
Hmmmmm.... what's up with all these guys with lipstick on their faces?
Me, Jim and Rich ready for takeoff
The Captain came out and thanked our WWII Veterans for their service.
He also was a Veteran with 22 years in the Air Force.
Mail Call
I missed getting the picture of all the Chicago Firemen
saluting the plane after they hosed the left side of the plane
The Chicago Fire Department were the first to greet our Veterans on the ramp.
Great Lakes Naval Base Soldiers
Jim and Rich being thanked
And what a welcome home it was for these Veterans!!!
Over 2,000 people showed for the welcome home.
