Posts Tagged ‘Travel’
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 […]
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 […]
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!!!! […]
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 […]
President Clinton
I photographed President Clinton last Fall at a signing for his book “Giving.” We had the chance to trade books. He’s a terrific person to be with and his enthusiasm for life is contagious and his memory for people is astonishing This is the note he sent me and I have it framed. He signed […]
Lance Akers…fundraiser and SWAG guy
“SWAG” as we call it in the photo industry is any cool item that you can get for free. Lance Akers here is modeling his latest Honor Flight SWAG while he gives a lecture on fund raising to the Honor Flight Convention in DC this February. During the convention, various and sundry folks gave talks […]
“My God, My Country And Me”… Lewis Ellenberg
This is Lewis Ellenberg who last year called me up and said “Brother….I want ten of your books….the boys were jealous and I decided to get them a copy.” For orders like this, I have the privilege of discounting and I do. In return, Lewis sends me his self-published book entitled “My God, My Country, […]
WHNPA and Military recognize Honor Flight
The The White House News Photographers Association is going to recognize Earl Morse, Jeff Miller, Susan Barr and a few veterans at the annual May Awards dinner. WWII veterans will present the Military Photographer of the Year award. The WHNPA has had a long relationship with the Military and the Washington Post photo department has […]
Tracy Briggs: WDAY Honor Flights
Tracy Briggs (shown with co-host Scott Hennen) is a morning talk show host out of Fargo, North Dakota who has spearheaded the North Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota Honor Flights. The WDAY site today reads: WDAY WWII HONOR FLIGHT TO TAKE “BONUS” TRIP Because of overwhelming support from the community and sponsors the WDAY WWII Honor Flight […]
Earl Morse, Founder of Honor Flight
Earl Morse is a retired physician’s assistant and pilot who began flying vets from Ohio to the WWII Memorial in Washington in 2005. He was soon joined by Jeff Miller out of Hendersonville, North Carolina who began to charter jets. If you go to the Honor Flight schedule you will see flights of Veterans going […]
Senator Robert Dole
Senator Robert Dole is in addition to his long standing service to our country during the War and the Congress and Senate the “unofficial greeter” at the WWII Memorial. Every Saturday, he drives down to the Memorial to greet vets and shake hands and take pictures. He spends up to six hours there and it’s […]
Military Order of the Purple Heart
Chief Adjutant Joseph W. Palagyi of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, has joined Honor Flight in adopting “WWII Memorial: Jewel of the Mall” for his organization. The book will be distributed through their physical store in Northern Va and their website which is listed above. The Order of the Purple Heart works with […]