PDA

View Full Version : We did it 'because it was right,' vet says



thedrifter
04-09-08, 05:33 AM
We did it 'because it was right,' vet says
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
By STEVE CAMPBELL
Times Staff Writer steve.campbell@htimes.com

Next group prepares for trip to nation's WWII memorial

Spend two minutes with Tom O'Bryant, and he'll have you in stitches.

Except for the occasional wisecrack, the 83-year-old jokes that he needs his wife to do everything for him - remember his age, tell him what he shouldn't say to reporters, tell him to stop chatting so much, and so on.

But when the retired Navy man travels to Washington, D.C., next month to visit the World War II Memorial, there will be no jokes, just smiles as he modestly accepts the praise that will be heaped on him and 124 other World War II veterans.

"I think we're going to be honored more than we need to be," O'Bryant said. "We didn't abhor anything about our service. We just did everything that was asked of us because it was right."

The Tennessee Valley Chapter of Honor Flight is sending local veterans to see the memorial May 31. On Tuesday, the retired sailors and soldiers were told to stay healthy so they don't miss the trip.

"I want you to live," chapter Vice President Max Bennett said. "It tears you up when you've got people on the flight, but then can't go."

Honor Flight has taken applications from several veterans who died before their scheduled trip. Bennett told the veterans, most of whom are in their 80s, that he doesn't want to feel that pain again.

The goal of Honor Flight is to honor the veterans at the national memorial, which wasn't built until 2004 - after many veterans died. Joe Fitzgerald said less than 500,000 of an estimated 16 million World War II veterans are alive today. An estimated 1,200 die each day.

Fitzgerald told the veterans not to worry about the trip. At least 10 emergency medical workers and dozens of guardians will make sure it goes smoothly, he said.

In addition to viewing the World War II memorial, the veterans will see Arlington National Cemetery, and memorials to the Marines and Korean War veterans.

Among the 125 veterans going on the May trip is Frank Kelly, an Army veteran from Birmingham.

He gets teary-eyed at the significance of seeing the memorial for the first time. The 88-year-old said many veterans from his generation fought and died for the most valuable right - "to give freedom to my children and then their children."

Ellie