I asked Tracy Briggs about her service as coordinator of WDAY Honor Flight. She said: “Another WDAY WWII Honor Flight is history and is it a cliche to say this was our best one yet? I’ve felt that way about each of our 4 trips! We have had the pleasure of taking about 675 WWII veterans from North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota to the Memorial since May of 2007. They are the most incredible group of men and women that I have ever met. Humble, grateful, gracious, funny, sweet and caring.

To say that it’s been lifechanging also sounds like a cliche but it’s not an overstatement. I went into this project knowing very little about these veterans. I knew what I knew about the war from history class and Hollywood. But I didn’t know the stories of the men who won the war: The soft spoken Minnesota farm boy who stayed behind with a buddy during the Battle of the Bulge because ‘nobody should die alone.’ He survived three nights alone in the cold, his uniform so caked with ice that the medics had to cut it off. I’ll never forget the smiling veteran from Jamestown who told me how only 5 men in his 65 man company walked away from Iwo Jima uninjured. I sensed he still holds many secrets behind his sparkling blue eyes. Or another perpetually upbeat veteran from our first flight who comes to the airport to say ‘so long’ to subsequent Honor Flight travelers. The list goes on and on and on. I am simply blessed to have met such American heroes.

I am also blessed to have met and worked with such amazing people on the Honor Flight committee both at the national and local level. They have not received the recognition they so richly deserve. Talk about people you’d like to be in the trenches with. They’ll always hold a special place in my heart. And simply not enough can be said for our amazing community which answered the called and raised $600,000 in a year to make the trips happen.

WDAY will not be doing anymore Honor Flights from Fargo. Our project was set up for the short run, an effort to get a lot of vets to Washington fast. While I’m disappointed to know that we’re “officially” done, I’m heartened to know that neighboring cities are picking up the torch and running with it. Beth Bouley from Grand Forks (about 80 miles north of us) is starting flights there and officials in Sioux Falls, South Dakota are in the process of planning trips down there. Minnesota also has trips up and running.”

Despite her claims for “retirement”, I am sure Tracy will be working with Honor Flight to coordinate the rest of the state…and I’m taking money on Miller not retiring as well. Success breeds success and WDAY had the best swag courtesy of Lance so…as they say about the Sopranos…”You can’t get out.”

Honor Flight is featured in Jewel of the Mall: World War II Memorial book.