WWII Memorial
George Kerestes on Greeting Veterans at the WWII Memorial
George Kerestes was interviewed by South Dakota’s Keloland Television and got a nice write up regarding his four years of greeting Veterans at the WWII Memorial. He says: “Now that I look back and realize these were my neighbors growing up and I never extended my hand,” Kerestes said. “So in my own way, this […]
Today went amazing!!! by Amanda Nerwin – Honor Flight
Forwarded to Mary Pettinato, Honor Flight Chicago Hey Mary!! Today went amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had the store decorated in red, white, and blue and it looked great!! So many Veterans showed up and it was great to see them all sit together with their coffee and donut and share stories! The Des Plaines city clerk also came by and sat […]
Fundraising for Honor Flight’s DC Ground Crew
Lona Ichikawa (Honor Flight’s DC Ground Crew Chief and Judy Wybenga, Dulles Ground crew Chief held an end of season fund raising for the DC Ground Crew at American Legion Post 180 in Vienna, Virginia this weekend and also took the opportunity to recognize some of their volunteers. I will post the pictures later […]
Honor Flight Southwest
Honor Air may have begun a new chapter with Southwest Airways sponsorship arranged by Judy Lemmons who is the glue that holds Honor Flight together. She and Susan Barr brought twenty-one veterans from California and their guardians to visit the Memorial and …it was obvious it wasn’t California. It was a “NorEaster” with gusty winds […]
My Father Remembered on Veterans Day
A salute to my father Edward Brown on this Veterans Day. Like many WWII Veterans, he never made a fuss about his military service either before the war on a Destroyers at Pearl Harbor or during the war in Brazil where he was on the crew of a PBY (submarine hunter). He used to joke […]
Band of Brothers Fundraiser
Band of Brothers WWII Veterans Coming to Nebraska by Bill and Evonne Williams Men featured in HBO miniseries at Strategic Air and Space Museum (Ashland, NE) The Strategic Air and Space Museum (SASM) will welcome World War II veterans featured in Band of Brothers for a book signing and presentation on Saturday, Dec. 5. A book signing will […]
800 Veterans and eleven hubs
And so if you were wondering where I’ve been in the past few weeks, I’ve been working on my latest book on DC and saving my energy up for today when 800 veterans plus guardians…a total of probably 1200 plus assorted military personnel, motorcycle police and riding groups, mounted police, guardians, school kids and relatives […]
Last Tent Day for Honor Flight Season
Tomorrow may be our last tent day for the Honor Flight season. We have two tents bundles rented and 3 hubs scheduled to use the tents as shown on Diane’s HF schedule and I have volunteers to staff it. I am not sure about the 7th of November. I don’t know what the funding looks […]
A Photo Recommendation and Northwest Ohio and Central Illinois
Central Illinois and Northwest Ohio came in today and were greeted by Senator and Mrs. Dole. As you will notice, I made the photographs of the Central Illinois group on the 17th Street (Washington Monument) side of the World War II Memorial. Photographing groups on the 17th Street entrance is WONDERFUL and I would like […]
Central Missouri, Siouxland and Central Iowa Honor Flights
There were buses unloading on 178th Street today as Central Iowa Honor Flight alone brought in 350 veterans. The weather was perfect and with the addition of Central Missouri and Siouxland Honor Flights, the World War II Memorial was jam packed with veterans in a variety of blues and yellows. All told, between veterans and […]
Six-Burgh–That is Pittsburgh Arrives
Photos and text by George Kerestes, National Park Service and Pittsburgh Native On another beautiful fall day in Washington 100 World War II Veterans, plus their volunteers, visit their Memorial. Although not part of the Honor Flight Network, the Pittsburgh numbers are very impressive. The Pittsburgh group originated with Jim Hilts, of Coraopolis, a Vietnam War […]
Mike Kilmer’s Letter to the Casper Star Tribune
Dear Editor: Fred Klein, Jack Kelly and Pamela Atkins.wrote 3 letters in CST concerning the Honor Flight of Wyoming vets to WW!! Memorial in Washington, DC. I just wanted to add what little I can in expressing my heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped organize and finance this extraordinarily inspirational trip. There was […]
Communication news from Honor Flight Chicago and Birmingham
Chicago Honor Flight’s Documentary From Mary Pettinato in Chicago: “The Communications Committee is proud to announce that the documentary co-produced by Marty Kohr and Kimberly Grear and done by Don Pogany and Arturo Cubacub has been nominated for an EMMY tonight against stiff competition. Thank you so much guys for your amazing attention to […]
Eight State Honor Flights at World War II Memorial
There were Honor Flights from eight states repsresented at the World War II Memorial today and rumored to be between 700 and 1200 veterans. Senators Robert and Elizabeth Dole were there as was Mike Marshall bearing news of a new boy in the family. Everyone was photographing and the weather held out nicely as everyone […]
Northern Valley Honor Flight Visits World War II Memorial
North Dakota thundered into the World War II Memorial today lead by Tim Koski and supported by a group of guardians and supporters from past flights. North Dakota has been so successful in Fargo (due in large part to Lance Akers and Jennine Albrecht’s fund raising efforts) that they have been able to cover the rest of the state. Senators […]
Honor Flights: September 19, 2009
Six flights (Fayette, Georgia; Rotary District 7680 (North Carolina); Honor Flight Dayton, Southeast Florida, Leatherstocking Honor Flight (New York) and Roughriders from North Dakota) came in today with a total of 380 veterans and some 150 guardians. Senators Robert and Elizabeth Dole were there to greet the veterans. The day was absolutely beautiful and Washington […]
Dee Pakulski and Honor Flight Northwest Ohio(NWO)
Two years ago, Dee Pakulski (second from left) was in DC at the Honor Flight convention exploring how to transport the veterans from the Toledo, Ohio to the World War II Memorial. Obviously she has succeeded as she has brought over 250 grateful WWII Veterans to DC with a 100 percent safety record and has […]
World War II Posters
Beth Zimmerman, her mother and aunt sent me these World War II posters which I think are very interesting. You can access them on the photo site. The quality of the illustrations is quite amazing and it looks to me like Norman Rockwell did a few of the illustrations. Pretty cool. Betty Hart who originally sent […]
Four flights in four frames…World War II Memorial
Today I managed to get four group shots with and without Senator Dole and with and without the guardians and may take up photography for a living! Central Illinois went straight over to the front of the World War II Memorial with the Lincoln and Atlantic in the background. As I photographed them, Cleveland with […]
Honor Flight Chicago’s award winning documentary
From Mary Pettinato “We just received a call from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (the Emmy’s) regarding our website’s reference to an “Emmy-nominated documentary.” Although a fleeting moment, it was quite exciting to get a call from this highly recognized organization. Unfortunately, the call was not made to congratulate, but rather to […]
Columbus, OH, Northern CO, SW Florida Visit World War II Memorial
I attended a banquet for Northern Colorado’s veterans (lead by Col Stan Cass) the night before they visited the World War II Memorial and was as always impressed by the devotion each Honor Flight pays to its veterans. General John H. Tilelli, Jr was the main speaker for the evening. He was proceeded by a full color guard. The dinner was the cats meow and the veterans were […]
Franklin County Honor Flight
I’d like to take a trip around the country and visit with everyone I’ve met on Honor Flight. As I turned around from photographing the Bluegrass Flight, there was Jim Tayon with a big smile. What a great pleasure to see him and his group. Jim can make you laugh just by his amused expression. […]
Honor Flight Bluegrass
Kentucky’s Bluegrass group lead by Brian Duffy arrived in a light drizzle at the World War II Memorial. After a short attempt to organize the troops for a group photo, we went with some great spontaneous photographs of the veterans and Senator and Mrs. Dole. I am always inspired by the Honor Flight volunteers, the […]