Blogs
Ground Support at the WWII Memorial
Diane Sinclair, a member of the Honor Flight DC Ground Crew, lives out by Dulles and manages to get in to support us every weekend at the WWII Memorial. She had two of these artificial wreaths made up which can be used by the various flights in their flag ceremonies normally held out by the […]
Making a Difference…NBC News
Honor Flight Receives National Media Attention Springfield, OH. The Honor Flight Network (HFN), headquartered in Springfield, OH was featured on a national news broadcast. NBC News National Correspondent Janet Shamlian accompanied the first flight of 2008 from the Dayton International Airport on April 19, 2008. NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams aired the story last Friday. […]
Honor Flight: April 19th…the cat’s meow….
To the sounds of a bagpipe, the twenty buses offloaded seven hundred veterans, one hundred volunteers and there were ceremonies for every state represented and always, a rembrance for those who didn’t get the opportunity to make the trip. Joyce Tarantino and her ground crew arranged for groups of soldiers to greet the vets at […]
Opening Day and More Bright Lights!!!
JEFF MILLER’S FILM CREW at WWII MEMORIAL Jeff Miller, Co-Founder of the Honor Flight Network will have a professional film crew at the WWII Memorial putting together a virtual walk-through of the WWII Memorial. This project, shot in HD, will be available for WWII Veterans everywhere who are not capable of taking our trips. Jeff […]
Opening Day for Honor Flight: April 19th!!!
This coming Saturday is going to be “opening day” for Honor Flight’s seasonal Flights. There are fifteen states sending 700 WWII veterans to the World War II Memorial and the forecast is for “Sunny and 82.” Senator Dole will be there and Earl Morse is going to be accompanied by an NBC National TV crew […]
Honor Flight’s Early Birds
Today, Honor Flight had three flights come in. I was just able to get down to the World War II Memorial to say hello and make some snaps. Jim McLaughlin brought a flight of Lone Eagles who joined a Cinncinati Group at the airport. With them were Thelma and Bob Worden and their son John. […]
Oneida, New York …the First Bus
Erwin Smith of Oneida, New York brought the first load of 52 veterans and guardians to the WWII Memorial today, Tuesday April 8th, 2008. The group is in for three days and this is the second year and the second trip for the Oneida Rotary Club. Like Honor Flight, the Vets were accompanied by guardians […]
Cherry Blossoms
Washington is at its peak. After a wonderfully mild Winter, the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom and the town is a riot of color. It’s time to bring those Veterans in and I am looking forward to Honor Flights coming into town. I will be reporting on every honor flight if you Honor flight leaders […]
Veterans Affairs…a Day on the Hill
I accompanied Commander Henry Cook of the Military Order of the Purple Heart to the Joint Senate/House Hearings on Veterans Affairs. The VA is covered by this committee as are any number of Veterans Groups and the conversation was at times spirited. It’s nice to know that there are advocates for veterans welfare. As a […]
Air Force Association
Speaking of Al Bailey and the Air Force, I got a call from Susan Rubel at the Air Force Association and AFA Veteran Benefits Association asking for books for their online store. They are also presenting the “Jewel of the Mall” book at a special discount for their members and it will go out as […]
Susan Barr… “spreading the word”
Susan Barr is the Public Relations Director for Honor Flight and an emergency room nurse and mother of two. Unflappable and ever-observant, I normally find her standing back, talking constantly on a headset to coordinate events while monitoring the health and hydration of every person involved in an Honor Flight. She’s up until midnight every […]
“Humble Heroes”… Andy Rooney and Jeff Miller on CBS
If you haven’t seen this video on Honor Air narrated by Andy Rooney, I recommend it highly and I can’t stand Andy Rooney. As I mentioned in an earlier post, CBS is the first national network sending a crew along with Earl Morse on April 19th, 2008. Tune IN!!! It’s good to see the networks cover […]
Northwest Ohio Honor Flight’s Dee Pakulski
Dee Pakulski has taken to running the Northwest Ohio branch of Honor Flight like she’s been doing Public Relations work all her life. She and her Honor Flight Program have been written up six or seven times in the Toledo papers, she’s been on TV and has been speaking at dinners to raise money for […]
Al Bailey…so you want to go for a ride?
I set my google alerts for the WWII Memorial and am these days frequently rewarded with tidbits like this from the Cinncinati Enquirer “Alan Bailey will give a presentation on the Honor Flight program when the 741 Center hosts a Veterans Club meeting at 11 a.m. April 1 at 570 N. Ohio 741. The program […]
Oneida, New York’s Joyce Oster Palmer and John Brennan
We all know about Honor Flight but there are groups and individuals working to accomplish the same task. John Brennan, Esq. and Joyce Oster Palmer took over a project in Oneida County with great success and are building their own WWII Memorial in Oneida. She wrote recently: “In all, between Herkimer County 200, Oneida County […]
Ray Kaskey’s Sculpture Website
Ray Kaskey is the internationally renowned sculptor who created the eagles, the bas reliefs, the ropes that join the columns, the water grates, the flagpoles and every piece of bronze in the WWII Memorial. Prior to the WWII Memorial, he was most famous for his statue “Portlandia.” He was chosen for this project not only […]
“Why I’ll just charter a big jet!”
Jeff Miller of Hendersonville, North Carolina heard about Earl Morse’s small plane junkets and since he couldn’t fly, decided to charter himself a jet!! Will Rogers said, “Not all of us can be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and cheer as the heroes pass by.” Jeff’s not standing on any […]
Lone Eagle
Jim McLaughlin is an Ohio based architect who retired so he can work full-time with the Honor Flight network. As Vice-President, he travels frequently to pick up the “lone eagles”, those vets whose health is so poor that an immediate trip is the only solution. He also heads up his own flights from Ohio and […]
My Father…Ed Brown
Wow!! What a guy…. He joined the Navy in Brooklyn because they had a basketball team and ended up heading overseas on a destroyer which left Pearl Harbor just two weeks before the December 7th attack. He was then assigned to PBY (submarine hunter) airplane in Brazil for the remainder of the war. He had […]
Bridging the Generations
Mary Cole of Bridgewater, New Jersey is shown here surrounded by veterans at the WWII Memorial. Last year, at the age of 16, she organized a “Tour of Honor”, raised the money and brought 67 vets to the WWII Memorial by bus. Joe Gromelski of Stars and Stripes who took the picture said “… it […]
Remembrance…
Every flight seems to have a ceremony of one sort or another and they are all distinctive and usually focused around their state column. A lot of Senators and Congressman show up at the WWII Memorial when their state arrives and Kansas made a strong showing last Fall. Why there’s that Bob Dole guy again!!!! […]
Location, Location…World War II Memorial
My mom always says about real estate “Location….location…..” and the WWII Veterans definitely got the best spot on the Mall. J. Carter Brown, the head of the site selection committee insisted on the most prominent of all the available locations on the mall. Good for him!!! Of course this put the World War II Memorial […]
Welding the Eagles Together…
Actually one of the great parts of the WWII Memorial Project was watching this massive architectural ornament being put together. Apex Piping was responsible for most of the unique views and access that I achieved while photographing. They arrived with the Eagles and a brand new crane with an American Eagle painted on it. Their […]
Ms. Manners….Judy Lemmons
Judy Lemmons works for the Air Force and she is in charge of PROTOCOL. She knows where the flag is supposed to be located next to a speaker, what pins to buy, where to buy gifts, bags, how to get fire engines to spray down the jets as the Veterans come into the airport, …as […]