Rotary Report

Rotary Report

by Jodie Cook

In September of last year CBS News aired a segment on a new veterans program called HonorAir. This past March Highlands Rotary Club had speakers from the Rotary Club of Asheville visit and talk about their sponsorship of HonorAir, which is an organization whose purpose is to fly WWII veterans to visit the National WWII Memorial in Washington, DC.

Rotarian Bert McCall’s father, Frank McCall, was veteran of WWII and Bert wanted his father to visit the WWII Memorial. Bert was assisted by his daughter Marley in a photo presentation of the HonorAir flight with his father to Washington earlier this year.

How HonorAir came about is interesting. Earl Morse a retired Air Force captain had gotten an aero club in 2005 to fly small planes with WWII vets out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This expanded to commercial aircraft which allowed a more regular schedule. Meanwhile Hendersonville, NC business man Jeff Miller heard about this program and raised funds to charter commercial jets and HonorAir was formed. In September and November of 2006 HonorAir flew over 300 WWII veterans to see the WWII Memorial. Morse and Miller combined to form Honor Flight Network. The Rotary Club of Asheville became a primary partner in the HonorAir in Asheville/Buncombe County. Two premises of the HonorAir program are that the Veterans pay nothing and the other is that they are escorted by guardians with appropriate medical, and safety care be provided.

After an orientation session Bert McCall was to be the guardian for Frank McCall, Bud Elliot and Joe Taylor on a spring Honor Air flight. This group would join a hundred other veterans and 33 guardians as well as 3 EMTs and a doctor on a chartered US Air 737 jet that would fly out of Asheville. During the course of the trip Bert McCall became good friends with Elliot and Taylor as did his father, Frank.

The Asheville Airport provided an impressive sent off for the veterans – American flags were draped, displayed and help by numerous employees. Congressman Heath Shuler was there to wish them well on their trip and last, a pair of WWII training planes took off preceding the Boeing 737.

When the HonorAir flight arrived at Washington National, US Senator Bob Dole was there to welcome the veterans. Fire trucks sprayed water salutes, airport employees from ticket agents to baggage handlers waved flags and many wore patriotic costumes lastly the terminal was decorated in US flags.

Three buses with police escorts took the ensemble to the National WW II Memorial. This Memorial opened in April 2004 well after memorials to other conflicts and wars had been established. The Memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home. The Memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people and is located between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

The veterans toured their Memorial on foot but mostly by wheel chair to see the Atlantic and Pacific Towers representing WWII’s Pacific and European fronts. They saw the Field of Stars emblazoned with 4,000 stars – one for every 100 of their comrades who gave their life in WWII with its inscription, “Here We Mark the Price of Freedom”. They toured the pillars which represented every state in the circular memorial and saw the inscriptions on each, the saw the embedded plaques with quotations about WWII in the circular field of the Memorial.

Lunch was provided on the Mall by a wave of volunteers. Afterward, they visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial, the Marines Monument and the Nurses Memorial. They then traveled to Arlington National Cemetery for the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

At the Washington airport, the vets were greeted by a host of flag waving people who wanted to say, Thank You. The 737 taxied through an honor aisle of emergency vehicles with lights, sirens and an arch of water from the fire trucks saluting them.

The US Air jet landed at the Asheville Airport to a major reception including a band, flags, thank you signs and a salute of all emergency vehicles welcoming them back.

Bert McCall described the HonorAir trip as greatly appreciated by the veterans; safe and extremely well planned with every contingency considered. An original premise of HonorAir – that it not cost the veterans anything was maintained. Those who volunteered their time, those who waved flags and those who found ways to salute this group of WWII veterans found a way to say Thank You to this group who had fought and won so that the spirit of America would remain free.

More information can be found at: www.honorair.com; www.wwiimemorial.com and www.honorflight.org.