Honor Flight from Kalamazoo to Washington, D.C.

[Rob W]

Hey all,

I covered an Honor Flight that flew out of Kalamazoo, Mich. and headed to Washington, D.C. this past Saturday (Sept. 27) for my newspaper. 80 veterans (78 World War II vets and two Korean War vets) were on the flight, along with their "guardian" escorts, event organizers and media.

While not completely and exclusively focused on warbirds and the men that flew them in World War II (much to my chagrin...), I HAD to lead my story with an anecdote from a B-24 ball turret gunner.

Neat event. This generation is passing quickly. I was extremely thankful to be able to accompany them on their trip.

Story and photos: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/ind ... flect.html

Cheers,
Rob

[Jeremy S]

Great story!

I visited with one of my friends last night who is a WWII veteran. During the war he washed out of pilot school and later became an officer, teaching radio and electronics in the Army due to his background in ham radio before the war. You couldn't meet a nicer fellow and he is always full of good stories.

My adoptive grandfather served in the Merchant Marines during the war and was contacted about taking a flight to see the memorial a few years ago. At the time he was still recovering from some health problems and didn't feel up to the trip. I interviewed him a few years ago: http://radiorestorer.com/merchantmarine.html

Talking to these guys in person, you gain a very different perspective from that era. My friend Bill (adoptive grandfather) who was in the Merchant Marines can tell many stories from his experiences that you'll never read about in history books. I've heard many over the years, like him being just off the east coast of the mainland US and seeing burning ships out in the Atlantic that were torpedoed by German U-Boats, or dogfights between German and American fighters in between rows of ships off North Africa. There were times when he was at port in Venezuela (supposedly a neutral country who did not supply the Germans) and saw first hand loaded down tankers with diesel go out to sea and return empty only a few hours later. They were refueling German U-Boats who were preying upon Ally merchant ships hauling oil in the Caribbean.

[mlenoch]

Rob: The AZO fire trucks did a nice 'water arch' on your departure!
Looked like a good day for travel to DC.
Vlado

[Rob W]

Jeremy S,

Thanks. As far as your comment about "talking to these guys in person, you gain a very different perspective from that era," I couldn't agree more.

Vlado,

The 'water arch' during departure was very well received by everyone on the flight. As soon as we were in the air, many broke out in applause and cheers.

We were actually delayed almost an hour because of the fire the previous day at the Chicago ATC facility. Apparently some of the automated flight clearance information wasn't transmitting/receiving properly so it had to be entered manually before we could leave (that's the story the captain relayed to us over the intercom in the jet while we were waiting...).

The veterans were given a 'water arch' salute at Reagan National Airport when we arrived. They loved it. Not a cloud in the sky at either end of the trip. It was a great experience. I'm incredibly thankful to have been able to be a part of it.

[marine air]

Honor flight okay, what then is a "Valor FLight" ? I heard that call sign used in Georgia last week with ATC.

[Rob W]

marine air,

I can't answer for certain what "Valor Flight" is; I wasn't connected with that group.

A simple search on Google did yield this: http://www.valorflight.com/Home.html

Cheers,
Rob

[mlenoch]

Rob wrote: We were actually delayed almost an hour because of the fire the previous day at the Chicago ATC facility.

..........very minor sidebar, because of this ATC problem, all class C and radar facilities went on 24 hour status. This included Grissom approach!! Very seldom is anyone at Grissom AFB, let alone their approach controller! It was fun to talk to an old SAC (B-58) facility once again.

VL

[Misterg97]

Rob,

The article was great. I really enjoyed it and unfortunately not many articles, as written by you, are shared with the public.

I not only applaud you but as an old vet pass on to you a "tip" of my hat.