Getting down to the WWII Memorial is always a treat.   My first task, a request from furniture maker Jeffrey Jaskiewicz for an image he could use to adorn a rocking chair and so made a pan from the West side of the Memorial.  I then wandered over to visit with the “usual suspects” and found George Kerestes in the company of Dolly Palmieri who turned out to be “Detective” Dolly Palmieri a 23 year veteran of the NYPD who is from Staten Island and had been working rescue and relief until 2:00 AM last night.  She turned up at the Memorial six hours later to meet here dad who was flying up to DC with SE Honor Flight.  Having the opportunity to make a picture of her and her father together was a treat!

As the morning went on, the pictures kept coming as Honor Flight Rhode Island arrived on its inaugural flight.  The Patriot Riders not only have been escorting the buses down from Dulles but also form a line of greeters as veterans enter the Memorial.  Stars and Stripes Honor Flight of Wisconsin then arrived in a sea of red with 180 veterans.  They have two flights coming in today and the logistics defy imagination.  Quite a feat.  I made a nice pan of Group A and had to leave to ship books to Sarah Hill of Veterans United.  She is doing Virtual Tours of the WWII Memorial in conjunction with Google Plus and Central Missouri Honor Flights for WWII Veterans unable to make the trip.  With the Google set up, they can virtually bring up to ten veterans at a time.  It’s a very interesting solution to the issue of WWII Vets who can’t fly because of physical issues.  They are scheduled for Tuesday AM and you can tune in to see how it goes.