HONOR FLIGHT: Doctor suggests Snellville man make Honor Flight
Charles Smith of Snellville, Ga., was with his wife Clara at Hughston Clinic a while back when one of the doctors saw his World War II veteran cap.
Dr. Carlton Savory told Smith he should get on one of the Honor Flights to Washington. Smith thought it would be too much trouble, and they did not do them out of the Atlanta area, any way.
"I thought it would be too emotional," the Army Veteran said Friday as he stood next to the Korean War Memorial.
Now, he's glad he let Savory talk him into it.
"This is a great thing and I probably need to drop him a note and thank him," Smith said.
Smith's daughter Chris Smith and his granddaughter Jennifer Anderson, a Delta flight attendant, flew into Washington to meet him.
"We decided we wanted to be a part of his day," Anderson said.Charles Smith of Snellville, Ga., was with his wife Clara at Hughston Clinic a while back when one of the doctors saw his World War II veteran cap.
Dr. Carlton Savory told Smith he should get on one of the Honor Flights to Washington. Smith thought it would be too much trouble, and they did not do them out of the Atlanta area, any way.
"I thought it would be too emotional," the Army Veteran said Friday as he stood next to the Korean War Memorial.
Now, he's glad he let Savory talk him into it.
"This is a great thing and I probably need to drop him a note and thank him," Smith said.
Smith's daughter Chris Smith and his granddaughter Jennifer Anderson, a Delta flight attendant, flew into Washington to meet him.
"We decided we wanted to be a part of his day," Anderson said
Selling newspapers
Standing in the World War II Memorial, Tony Wood remembered exactly where he was on Dec. 7, 1941.
Pearl Harbor was under attack by the Japanese, and Wood was in the mess hall at Fort Benning. He wasn't a soldier. He was a Phenix City kid selling the Columbus Enquirer.
"I made $10 that day -- and that was a lot of money," Wood said,
Wood, 83, joined the Navy and when the Japanese surrendered, he wasn't at Fort Benning any more.
"I was on the USS New York," he said with a pause. "I was in Pearl Harbor."
Wood is a commercial artist and has worked for television stations in Columbus and Montgomery, where he has lived since 1968.
'A bunch of old fellows'
Someone asked former Carver Principal Harry Vernon what he was doing on Friday.
“I am going to Washington D.C. with a bunch of old fellows,” he said.
He wasn’t kidding.
At 82, Vernon is one of the youngest World War II veterans on the Honor Flight out of Columbus.
The Navy veteran and Gadsden, Ala., native who was stationed stateside during the war said it is an honor to be on the trip.
“It’s overwhelming, really when you think of the sacrifices to win that war,” he said as he prepared to see the World War II Memorial for the first time.
Brookstone students documenting trip
The two teenagers look out of place, but they are on the Honor Flight for a reason.
Documenting the trip are two Brookstone Young Historians. Bo Kamensky and Jack Schley are interviewing veterans getting a first-hand taste of history.
“:I have never been to D.C.,” Schley said. “Who better to go with than a bunch of veterans.”
Schley, 17, did not know his two grandfathers – Dr. Frank Schley and Mack Jenkins – so he paying special attention to the men on this trip.
“I am interested in the male perspective of that generation,” Schley said.
There are about 40 members of the Brookstone club that was offered two spots on the flight. Kamensky, a senior, is the current president and Schley will be president next year.
Kamensky is related to Judge Aaron Cohn, a World War II veteran who was on the first Honor Flight last fall.
“I talked to Uncle Aaron about it,” Kamensky said. “After hearing him talk about it and what to expect I hope to absorb history from the veterans.”
They doing video journal that could end up in the Library of Congress, Schley said.
Next stop World War II Memorial
A group of 87 World War II veterans from Albany to Auburn landed in Baltimore at 9:45 a.m. The group is scheduled to arrive at the memorial shortly before noon.
For Miami Air CEO Ross Fischer, also a pilot, these flights are personal. And how many times does the CEO fly the plane?
Fischer didn’t waste any time with some good-natured military humor.
“If you are sitting next to a Marine, please remind him this aircraft has indoor plumbing,” Fischer said.
Fischer spent 24 years in the Navy and is the son of a World War II Navy vet.
"I didn't give them the destroyer landing," Fischer said shortly after touchdown.
Ready to leave
Nearly 90 World War II veterans were gathering at the Columbus airport Friday morning for a one-day journey into the past.
Honor Flight will be taking its third group of Chattahoochee Valley veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the World War II Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and other memorials and monuments.
All of the veterans have a guardian to make the trip easier.
John Clair, a 22-year Army veteran and now a sixth-grade science teacher at Eddy Middle School, is one of those guardians.
Clair wondered what he could possibly have in common with Tom Jones, the veteran he will be accompanying. After one phone conversation, Clair quickly found the two men had strong bond.
That bond is Maj. Gen. Manton S. Eddy.
While Clair works in a school named for the former general, Jones can do one better.
"He told me Gen. Eddy was his division commander in Africa, Italy and France," Jones.
That sent Clair to the Internet.
"I didn't know much about Gen. Eddy, even though I teach in a school named for him," Clair said. "He was quite a man."
The flight departs Columbus about 7:45 a.m. and should be returning to the Columbus airport after 9 p.m. People are encouraged to come to the airport and greet the veterans upon their return. In the previous two Honor Flights out of Columbus, more than 1,200 people have met the veterans at the end of the journey.
Follow ledger-enquirer.com all day for updates on the trip.
This story was originally published April 23, 2010 at 6:46 AM with the headline "HONOR FLIGHT: Doctor suggests Snellville man make Honor Flight."