Veterans Honor Flight

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In the wee hours of 6 April 2017, some 29 veterans from Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam boarded a large overland bus at Hannibal, MO. Also on board were veteran’s guardians and Honor Flight board members Barry Cheyne, Doug Reed, and Terry Smith who served as guides and medical support.
When they read the manifest, I was surprised that 5 brothers of the Harrison family were on board. Their names were Roger, Russell, Ronald, Richard, and Robert. Surprised, I think, because my mind flashed back to November 1942 when the five Sullivan brothers were serving on the light cruiser that was sunk in the South Pacific off Guadalcanal by a Japanese submarine, all five brothers perished. This might be the first time 5 brothers, veterans all, would be aboard the same conveyance.
So, with all onboard and a few good-natured jokes about a woman driver, we were St. Louis bound. We were delivered to Lambert Field, Saint Louis, in style by a pro. It is now 4 o’clock in the morning. It was my first opportunity to see TSA at work. I can say they do good work – no worry there. At six in the morning, we board a 737-jet bound for Baltimore, MD. It is raining and is still raining hard when we land. This pilot was good. You could hardly tell when the wheels touched the runway. We would learn later that Barry Cheyne requested an Air Force trained pilot for the trip.
To our surprise the crowd in the terminal burst into applause when they saw these service cars and wheel chairs enter. This would happen just about every place we went. So, on to another bus for the trip into Washington D.C. A motorcycle policeman cleared the path with siren blazing. Yes, it’s still raining… poor guy. Our bus pulls into a parking space near the Lincoln Memorial and near the Vietnam wall. It’s now raining harder. It is obvious that we will not be able to walk thru the WWII and Korean Memorials.
So, what to do when Plan A is not working? Well lucky us, Barry was stationed in Washington when on active duty. He puts Plan B in action. Barry makes a phone call. I do not know what was said, all I know is that this big black bus pulls up in front of this huge museum. A guard removed the protective barrier and the bus pulls right to the building exit, we are now inside the short way.
Again, when the crowd saw these wheel chairs and service cars, they burst into clapping… what a feeling! I couldn’t help but think how great it would have been if this could have happened to the kids returning from Vietnam in the 60’s and 70’s. But time restraints found us back on the bus headed for Arlington National Cemetery. As we pull up to the tomb of the unknown solider the sun suddenly pops out. It shines brightly all the while we watch the changing of the guard. Incidentally, they buried John Glenn in Arlington the day we went there.