thedrifter
02-15-09, 07:20 AM
Published on HamptonRoads.com
Vets offered free rides to WWII memorial in D.C.
WILLIAMSBURG
If you're a local World War II veteran and you haven't seen the National World War II Memorial yet, here's your chance.
Honor Flight Historic Triangle Virginia is putting out the call for veterans and volunteers to take a free bus trip set for May 30.
The tour will also include the Korean War Veterans Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Marine Corps War Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. On the way home, the group will stop for dinner at the National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico.
The group is an affiliate of the national Honor Flight Network, which sends veterans from all over the country to Washington.
After moving to the area two years ago, Chicago native Bob Doherty saw a television program about the group and called to see how he could help. He found out there was no chapter in the area, so he started one last fall.
Doherty served in the Marines in the 1950s, before a career in investment banking.
He said the group's goal is to track down as many World War II veterans as possible from the greater Hampton Roads area who haven't seen the memorial and would like to do so.
The group also needs volunteer chaperones, or guardians, who can help the veterans while on the bus and at the memorials, and other volunteers to help out with the group's activities.
The group also needs donations, Doherty said, for while "the trip is completely free for the vets, it's not free."
The goal is to get about 100 veterans on buses for the May trip. That trip is just the beginning, he said.
"We will run as many as we need to and can finance until we've found every veteran we can find who wants to go," he said.
Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com
Ellie
Vets offered free rides to WWII memorial in D.C.
WILLIAMSBURG
If you're a local World War II veteran and you haven't seen the National World War II Memorial yet, here's your chance.
Honor Flight Historic Triangle Virginia is putting out the call for veterans and volunteers to take a free bus trip set for May 30.
The tour will also include the Korean War Veterans Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Marine Corps War Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. On the way home, the group will stop for dinner at the National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico.
The group is an affiliate of the national Honor Flight Network, which sends veterans from all over the country to Washington.
After moving to the area two years ago, Chicago native Bob Doherty saw a television program about the group and called to see how he could help. He found out there was no chapter in the area, so he started one last fall.
Doherty served in the Marines in the 1950s, before a career in investment banking.
He said the group's goal is to track down as many World War II veterans as possible from the greater Hampton Roads area who haven't seen the memorial and would like to do so.
The group also needs volunteer chaperones, or guardians, who can help the veterans while on the bus and at the memorials, and other volunteers to help out with the group's activities.
The group also needs donations, Doherty said, for while "the trip is completely free for the vets, it's not free."
The goal is to get about 100 veterans on buses for the May trip. That trip is just the beginning, he said.
"We will run as many as we need to and can finance until we've found every veteran we can find who wants to go," he said.
Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com
Ellie