On Saturday, November 2nd Grandpa/Papa and Uncle Nello participated on the Honor Flight to Washington DC. This was a one day event where they flew in early in the morning, went to three sites, boarded a plane and came home the same evening.
While there were in Washington DC, they went to the World War II Memorial and to the Korean Memorial, as well as the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Papa served in the Korean War at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada from December 1950 to December 1953; he was in charge of the Orderly Room. Uncle Nello served in World War II; together they were one of two sets of brothers who attended this Honor Flight.
Unknown to them we were all waiting for them at Milwaukee General Mitchell Airport to return home. In just our family, we had 35 members waiting. On the flight in, ALL Veterans were given a mail bag of letters, notes, and thank you's from family and friends. Papa was given two bags of letters from classmates of Cooper, Brewer, Steven, and Rebecca, along with the students of Tiffany, not to mention notes and thank you's from family. He was truly surprised and in awe of the gift.
Here we are waiting for them to come around the corner. A parade of drummers marched by us bringing the Veterans into the room. Uncle Tony was Papa's chaperon, and Linda was with Uncle Nello. The parade of Veterans lasted for about an hour and a half.
A video of their return. Fortunately the Z's were the first ones off! Unfortunately we needed to wait for the bag pipes to go past before we could go.
Some interesting facts about the Honor Flight today
There were two women representing the World War II Vets
Papa was 83
Across from us was Wisconsin State Senator Johnson waiting for the Veterans to come home. The man in the red scarf was a POW in Battle of the Bulge.
After the bag pipes came through, Brewer bumped fists with a Lieutenant Colonel; a picture that was captured by the Stars and Stripes Photographer.
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