Jay McMaster of Columbus and his crew were the first to arrive at the WWII Memorial today and we did this group picture just before Senator Dole arrived. Ah…life was so orderly at that point. Three more flights arrived within the next 30 minutes with Jim Salamon of Dayton, Jim McLaughlin with his Lone Eagles (20 states) Bobbi and Bill Richards of Columbus, and Rick Sage of Michigan aboard. Bill Richards was telling me that this is his “thirteen flight”….pretty extraordinary. All the guardians pitched in to take pictures of their veteran and I was able to wander a bit and watch the show. Pictures from the day can be found here. 

Diane Sinclair got some extra help from a group of White House Fellows whom Senator Dole had talked to several weeks ago. When he gets on a subject, he is relentless and apparently he had talked them all into volunteering for Honor Flight which was great. He’s getting so web savvy that he gave them my web address. Kristine Singley lead the group who greeted the veterans and distributed water and good cheer as they entered the Memorial. Once again, Senator Dole told them to “spread the word” as they will be dispersing across the country to start their own Honor Flights. On the right, a veteran from Miami who doesn’t like to fly was driven up by his sons and grandsons. He was looking pretty content to be surrounded by his boys…especially in that very cool Jag!!!Honor Flight is featured in Jewel of the Mall: World War II Memorial book.