Coverage of the Honor Flight of local veterans traveling to Washington showed how this program is paying tribute to the sacrifices of our World War II veterans.
The reports indicate that the veterans received a warm welcome in the nation’s capital and along the way, as they so richly deserved.
The world would most likely be very different today had they not been willing to risk so much to protect this great country and our allies.
Besides the tribute to and impact upon the veterans who made the trip, the experience was also moving for the people who accompanied the group to provide support as required.
One of these escorts, Fran Fluker, asked that I share her impressions. She was very excited about going along. I think it’s safe to say she would encourage all of us to consider volunteering for that role. Call 706-507-9944, if you have questions.
Fran’s father served in the European Theater. After he returned from fighting in World War II, he married the young woman who had stayed in contact with him while he was deployed. They had a family. He lived a productive life as a proud citizen without seeking any fanfare.
Fran had not thought a great deal about the horrors and difficulties associated with war until standing before the World War II Memorial with the Honor Flight veterans. Fran wrote, “what I truly learned from going to the WWII Memorial made me realize we would Really, Truly, Honestly, Literally be different people, and a different nation if those service men and women: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard had not been willing to go.”
She realized after reading the names of the small islands “scattered across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean” that without the United States in the fight, Europe might easily have been conquered by Germany and the Pacific nations conquered by the Japanese.
Fran is right. The globe was engulfed in war. Had we not joined the battle, the outcome is almost too horrible to contemplate. Fran said that strangers, tourists, government workers and soldiers would walk up to the Honor Flight veterans and thank them.
Some of the veterans seemed surprised at this. Having known some of these men and others of their generation, I think many of them do not realize how heroic they were. Regardless of the medals earned, all of them answered their nation’s and the world’s call for help.
They acted when the very fabric of civilization was at risk of being shredded by totalitarian governments bent on nothing but conquest and exploitation regardless of the misery that followed.
Fran was on target when she wrote how thankful she was for her dad and the other veterans who made that flight. All of us should be thankful. Our nation will remain strong and safe as long as we have such citizens willing to step forward to defend the rest of us.
John M. House is a retired Army colonel who lives in Midland, Ga. His e-mail is housearmylife@aol.com.
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