thedrifter
09-17-08, 02:03 AM
Third honor flight takes 246 vets to D.C.
BY KEVIN ABOUREZK / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - 08:08:12 pm CDT
WASHINGTON — The former ball turret gunner stared into the blue skies above the Tomb of the Unknowns Tuesday, remembering a much different place.
White-haired veterans wearing red Polo T-shirts walked past Charley Smith of Lincoln as he talked about his time serving on a B-17 bomber in Italy during World War II.
“It’s just an awesome feeling,” the 84-year-old said of visiting Arlington National Cemetery Tuesday. “It brings back memories.”
Other participants in the third Heartland Honor Flight shared his feeling of being transported to distant battlefields while visiting war memorials in Washington.
The third Honor Flight carried 246 World War II veterans from Nebraska, ages 80 to 97, to the nation’s capital — more than the previous two Honor Flights combined.
Moving and caring for 312 veterans, guardians and media turned out to be a logistical feat that event organizers proved capable of handling Tuesday.
But not without a hitch or two.
While the planes were scheduled to depart Omaha’s Eppley Airfield at 6:45 a.m., the second plane didn’t leave until nearly 9 a.m.
Event organizer Bill Williams said the second plane was delayed in Oklahoma City after its crew struggled to get a logbook on the plane they needed for the flight.
“I apologize, but this is what happens,” he told a banquet hall filled with veterans at the Omaha Convention Center at about 5:15 a.m.
Jim Huerter, a retired pediatric dentist from Omaha, wasn’t worried as he sat on a bus an hour later waiting for the second plane to arrive.
Having served in the Army Air Forces in the Pacific during the war, he’s had to wait on his share of buses. And he knew it would be worth his patience to see the World War II Memorial.
“I’ve seen all the other memorials there, but I’ve never seen this one,” he said.
To get the veterans to buses in the morning, organizers sent two groups to the airport, one group at a time. Each vet was assigned a colored name tag corresponding to his bus. Honor Flight organizers chartered two Boeing 737s for the trip.
The flight’s guardians, who were all volunteers, included three physicians, EMTs and Marines.
More than 1,000 veterans are on the waiting list to take the Honor Flight, Williams said.
While donations for the Honor Flight have fallen significantly since the last flight, money raised to match a $207,500 grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation in Omaha will cover the nearly $180,000 price tag of this flight.
The $415,000 from the grant and matching funds also should cover the cost of two more flights, said John Liebsack, state adjutant and quartermaster for the Nebraska VFW.
Organizers are considering another flight as early as October and hope to host other flights in the spring and next fall.
A 6 p.m. banquet on Monday kicked off the Honor Flight with patriotic music and speeches.
Upon landing in Washington, the veterans rode charter buses to the World War II Memorial. A congressional delegation and the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team greeted them at the memorial.
Because the second flight left Omaha nearly 90 minutes after the first flight Tuesday, the two groups didn’t meet again until visiting Arlington National Cemetery after 3:30 p.m.
The veterans were scheduled to visit the Iwo Jima Memorial Tuesday afternoon before boarding their flights back to Omaha.
George Lackovic, a former corporal in an anti-aircraft battalion in Europe during the war, said he’s never visited the war memorials in Washington. It’s always difficult, he said, to visit places where heroes lie.
“I get a lump in my throat when I go to see a military cemetery,” he said.
Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.
Ellie
BY KEVIN ABOUREZK / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - 08:08:12 pm CDT
WASHINGTON — The former ball turret gunner stared into the blue skies above the Tomb of the Unknowns Tuesday, remembering a much different place.
White-haired veterans wearing red Polo T-shirts walked past Charley Smith of Lincoln as he talked about his time serving on a B-17 bomber in Italy during World War II.
“It’s just an awesome feeling,” the 84-year-old said of visiting Arlington National Cemetery Tuesday. “It brings back memories.”
Other participants in the third Heartland Honor Flight shared his feeling of being transported to distant battlefields while visiting war memorials in Washington.
The third Honor Flight carried 246 World War II veterans from Nebraska, ages 80 to 97, to the nation’s capital — more than the previous two Honor Flights combined.
Moving and caring for 312 veterans, guardians and media turned out to be a logistical feat that event organizers proved capable of handling Tuesday.
But not without a hitch or two.
While the planes were scheduled to depart Omaha’s Eppley Airfield at 6:45 a.m., the second plane didn’t leave until nearly 9 a.m.
Event organizer Bill Williams said the second plane was delayed in Oklahoma City after its crew struggled to get a logbook on the plane they needed for the flight.
“I apologize, but this is what happens,” he told a banquet hall filled with veterans at the Omaha Convention Center at about 5:15 a.m.
Jim Huerter, a retired pediatric dentist from Omaha, wasn’t worried as he sat on a bus an hour later waiting for the second plane to arrive.
Having served in the Army Air Forces in the Pacific during the war, he’s had to wait on his share of buses. And he knew it would be worth his patience to see the World War II Memorial.
“I’ve seen all the other memorials there, but I’ve never seen this one,” he said.
To get the veterans to buses in the morning, organizers sent two groups to the airport, one group at a time. Each vet was assigned a colored name tag corresponding to his bus. Honor Flight organizers chartered two Boeing 737s for the trip.
The flight’s guardians, who were all volunteers, included three physicians, EMTs and Marines.
More than 1,000 veterans are on the waiting list to take the Honor Flight, Williams said.
While donations for the Honor Flight have fallen significantly since the last flight, money raised to match a $207,500 grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation in Omaha will cover the nearly $180,000 price tag of this flight.
The $415,000 from the grant and matching funds also should cover the cost of two more flights, said John Liebsack, state adjutant and quartermaster for the Nebraska VFW.
Organizers are considering another flight as early as October and hope to host other flights in the spring and next fall.
A 6 p.m. banquet on Monday kicked off the Honor Flight with patriotic music and speeches.
Upon landing in Washington, the veterans rode charter buses to the World War II Memorial. A congressional delegation and the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team greeted them at the memorial.
Because the second flight left Omaha nearly 90 minutes after the first flight Tuesday, the two groups didn’t meet again until visiting Arlington National Cemetery after 3:30 p.m.
The veterans were scheduled to visit the Iwo Jima Memorial Tuesday afternoon before boarding their flights back to Omaha.
George Lackovic, a former corporal in an anti-aircraft battalion in Europe during the war, said he’s never visited the war memorials in Washington. It’s always difficult, he said, to visit places where heroes lie.
“I get a lump in my throat when I go to see a military cemetery,” he said.
Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.
Ellie