Honor Flight - My Story

V3 - 4/2010© John Mollison - all rights reserved except where noted.johnmollison.com

I like email: [email protected]

Honor FlightMy trip.

I have been interviewing WW2 fighter

pilots since 1999. I’ve been drawing

their planes since 1969*.

In my interviews, I try to learn about

their character, leadership, personal

development and wisdom in addition to

the “combat stories.”

But in the meantime, this presentation is

about my chance to tag along on an

“HONOR FLIGHT” with a group of

WW2 veterans.

*Drawing dogfights on my schoolwork made it more exciting but didnʼt help my marks.The Morane 406 with the strange clouds is circa 4th grade. “Red” James, a Corsair pilot in WW2 and Korea is holding a framed print of my ʻpretty goodʼ rendering of his Korean-era F4U-4, 352nd FG ace Don Bryan is horsing around with my kids, a little P-39 I drew in my sketchbook and Col. Bill Creech shows me the Presidential Unit Citation his 528th FS earned.

These men have become mentors,

friends...and one day, I’ll get my notes

collected into a readable, reproducible

form.

© John Mollison - all rights reserved except where noted.johnmollison.com


HonorFlight My Trip

Above - The WW2 Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Above Left - Senator Marcy Kaptur from Ohio tried FOUR TIMES to get a bill passed through Congress to get the idea of a WW2 Memorial ratified. She tried in 1987. 1989. 1991. She finally succeeded in 1993. The monument was signed into law by President Clinton and dedicated by President Bush ELEVEN YEARS LATER in 2004.

Right - Earl Morse.

What's Honor Flight?

It’s an organized program to fly WW2

veterans to Washington D.C. so they

can experience the WW2 Memorial.

Honor Flight started in Springfield, OH

in 2005 when a Physicians Assistant

named Earl Morse realized some of his

veteran patients hadn’t seen their

memorial.

And probably never would.

So he flew them at his expense to see

the WW2 Memorial.



HonorFlight My Trip

I like these people.

Morse’s idea caught on rather fast.

Today, 33 states have Honor Flights.

By the end of this year, 50,000 vets

will have made the trip.

The Vets still don’t pay a thing.



HonorFlight My Trip

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010 (est)

0 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000 20,000

20,000

17,832

11,137

5,000

891

137

This is my “Guardian” tag.

It let everyone know I wasnʼt a 90 year old man.

Sometimes, i act like one though. Or so Iʼm told.

Anyway, South Dakota was getting

ready to send its 5th Honor Flight out -

106 Veterans - and I was asked if I’d

like to tag along as a “Guardian.”

Not quite sure of what the Guardians

guarded, I had to ask the obvious

question.

“The Vets,” was the answer.



HonorFlight My Trip

My job as a Guardian would entail:

• Loading & unloading wheelchairs

• Pushing Vets in the wheelchairs

• Helping Vets on/off/up/down steps

• Cleaning up tour buses

• Getting the Vets through Airport

Security



HonorFlight My Trip

Ever operated a wheelchair?

Let me save you some embarrassment: to fold a wheelchair, pull up on the front and back edges of the seat; to unfold, lean it over on one wheel and pull the arm rests apart.

If you try to do it any other way, youʼll hurt yourself.

LIFT HERE.

PULL APART HERE.

At first blush, the whole thing

sounded like a 5th grade field

trip with wheelchairs.

Above - the guy leaning at the podium is Rick Tupper - one of the Directors. Later on, I would learn that he is an organizational genius. The guys in the tan jackets and funky farmerʼs caps are the WW2 veterans. The guys in uniform by the flags are an “Honor Guard” in the uniforms of each branch of service.

Right - Governor Mike Rounds showed up to visit the Vets, too. So did South Dakota senator John Thune.

Not shown - the three women who also went along the Honor Flight. WW2 Vets arenʼt all “guys.”

I had to be at the airport at 5am.

When I got there at 4:55am,

the place was PACKED.

Evidently, the “old people” got up a

heck of a lot earlier than I did.



HonorFlight My Trip

There were a handful of quick

speeches about “The Greatest

Generation” and such, then it

was time to load the plane up

and head to D.C.

So, we trundled through security and

boarded the plane.

12 medical people

34 Guardians

10 Honor Flight coordinators

AND

106 WW2 veterans.



HonorFlight My Trip

This is what it looked like from my

mid-plane seat looking back.

The blue shirts are Vets.

The red shirts are Guardians.

We got the aisle seats so we could help

the Vets with their overhead bags.



HonorFlight My Trip

By the look on some of the Vet’s faces,

it was obvious some were wondering

what they were getting into.

Kinda’ like how it must have felt back

in ’41. Or ’42. Or ’43...



HonorFlight My Trip

The plane was pretty quiet en route.

Of course we were all tired,

but no one slept.

The quiet ended when the Vets exited

the Jetway at Dulles Airport in D.C.

They were greeted by a crowd of

people, cheering, shaking hands,

waving flags...

This is the only shot I have of this

moment. It’s missing about 9/10s of the

rest of the people in the area.

You can see by the look on the Vet’s

face, the reception was pretty huge...



HonorFlight My Trip

...which was fitting because the

itinerary was huge, too!

Honor Flight of South Dakota provides

a full agenda.

In 36 hours, we were to tour:

U.S. Air Force Memorial

Iwo Jima Memorial

Arlington National Cemetery

Formal dinner

WW2 Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

Korean War Memorial

U.S. Navy Memorial

FDR Memorial

Air & Space Museum



HonorFlight My Trip

This photo was taken in between the Air Force Memorial Arcs.

Wow, eh?

Weather was gorgeous in D.C.

At the Iwo Jima Memorial, we took a

group photo.

See the guy in the first row with the

triangle-flag case? It represents all the

soldiers who didn’t come home.

That flag was carried wherever we

went and the Vets would touch it to

remember a lost friend.

It was touched a lot.



HonorFlight My Trip

RIGHT: A Quad Cities Honor Flight was there, too. I love the back of this guyʼs shirt - “If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a Veteran.”

Thatʼs no Redneck wise-crack, by the way. In case you want proof, start with Nanking, 1937 and follow the dots through Poland, France, The Philippines, the London Blitz...

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was

rather sobering. To think that someone

would die without knowledge or due...

But the Guards are equally mysterious.

Did you know they take a life-long

oath to never touch alcohol and are

required to know the locations of at

least 300 soldiers buried at the

Arlington National Cemetery?

And they do this 24 hours a day, rain,

shine, blizzard or hurricane.



HonorFlight My Trip

Do yourself a favor and look up the“Tomb Guards” on the internet. They are no mere tourist attractions, that’s for sure.

We got to our hotel around 6pm and

prepared for a banquet dinner.

Some of the Vets told stories of their

service after dessert.

But really, everyone just wanted to hit

the hay. We were pretty amped to see

the WW2 Memorial first-thing the next

morning.



HonorFlight My Trip

This is my hotel room.

One of the Honor Flight team leaders

said that Vets often take pictures of

their hotel rooms because they can’t get

over the idea that they get six pillows

all to themselves.

For people who grew up in the

Depression, 6-pillow beds, “Tea Berry”

soap, in-room Starbucks coffee and

“soothing body gel” has to be

over-the-top.



HonorFlight My Trip

By the way, no fewer than 5 of the Westin staff were waiting out front to shake hands with the Vets and say, “Welcome to the Westin, Sir.” That was classy.



HonorFlight My Trip

A good thing about traveling with “old people”is that lights are out at 10pm.

I guess by 88 years of age, momʼs words have sunk home:

“Get a good nightʼs sleep!”

Good morning! First ones there!

The WW2 Memorial was another good

time for a group shot.

I couldn’t get my head around the fact

60 years had to pass before building it.

And to think - these people were the

Vanguard of the free world against

militaristic Japan and nazi Germany.



HonorFlight My Trip

This is Edmond and his niece Corrie.

He landed at Normandy and fought in

all the major European engagements

until VE Day.

He remembers seeing German tanks

firing at his unit and jumping into

foxholes.

I wonder if any American will ever see

an enemy tank again.

I hope not.



HonorFlight My Trip

This is Larry. He was in Army Air

Corps Logistics in the South Pacific.

He “...handed fighter pilots their pay

checks.”

Behind him, each gold star represents

100 Americans killed in combat for a

total of 400,000.

I asked Larry if he thought the Memorial

reflected his own pride of service and he

answered, “I just think a lot about the

people on that wall of stars.”



HonorFlight My Trip

These two jokers decided to show up in

their service uniforms. The clothes are

authentic.

They’re both named Edward.

Edward on the left was a medic with the

13th Airborne.

Edward on the right was a “ball gunner”

in a B-17 bomber with the 381st BG.

They must have had a gajillion photos

taken of them.

BUT!

Outside the WW2 Memorial, Edward

was mobbed by a bunch of loud...



HonorFlight My Trip

Left: Edwardʼs uniform “gets out” every once in while but not very often. It was in immaculate condition.

Right: Edwardʼs flight jacket has seen a lot of wear over the years and it shows. His B-17ʼs name, “Patches” is still faintly visible on the back of his jacket.



HonorFlight My Trip

...MUSICIANS FROM ALABAMA.

They couldn’t get over the fact thatEdward’s jacket was real.

Edward loved the attention.

Then, it was onto the Lincoln Memorial.

This is Wendell at the Lincoln

Memorial. I knew him prior to Honor

Flight because I drew the B-25 that he

flew in China/Burma. It’d been

raining, hence the plastic pancho.

He’s looking outward at the Washington

Monument about a mile away.

Just after I took this photo, I asked him

what he was thinking about and he

answered:

“That I fear I’ve seen our Golden Age

but that I hope our best is yet to come.”

He was referring to the United States.



HonorFlight My Trip

Next stop was the U.S. Navy Memorial.

At the museum there, a Guardian found a

WW2-era piece of ship equipment and

said, “Wow. This stuff is ancient!. Things

have got to be totally different now, don’t

you think?”

Later, the bubbling water over the steps

made me think of lyrics from a 1981

Talking Head’s song:

You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack

You may find yourself in another part of the world

You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile

You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife

You may ask yourself: well... how did I get here?

And I thought more about what Wendell

was thinking...



HonorFlight My Trip

But, I digress. Sorry’bout that.

We headed off to the Air&Space

Museum and then it was time to go to

our own Airplane and return home.

We were still tired, but the mood was

light and happy.

The Vets had had a good day and we

Guardians did a pretty good job of

Guarding.

At least that’s what the Vets said

because we were thanked a gagillion

times.

Which of course, was so NOT the point.



HonorFlight My Trip

About an hour before we were to land,

Rick called out “Mail Call!” and

handed out letters written by area

school kids.

This is Clarence’s letter. A 4th grade

girl thanked him for “...beating off the

bad guys.”

I teased Clarence that he was back to

cluttering the refrigerator door with art

projects.

He replied that he’d never had any kids.

But he thought hanging the card up just

the same was still a good idea.



HonorFlight My Trip

We got to our gate late and deplaning

took a long time. The Vets were

bushed and not moving very fast.

Christopher was tired and asked for a

wheelchair ride out of the gate area.

That’s my hand “on the tiller.”

Chris was at Pearl Harbor, btw.

It’s one thing to learn about history

from a book, but it’s another to learn

from someone who was there.

“You know, on December 6, any one of (my unit) would have thought you were crazy if you would have said, ‘Tomorrow, you’re going to be bombed and the Arizona* sunk!‘ But there I was, watching it happen the next day.”



HonorFlight My Trip

Rick wanted us all to go down the

gateway to the airport lobby as a group.

My camera wasn’t at-the-ready like it

should have been.

Suffice it to state, when we got to the

top of the escalators, the cheers from

below sounded like a home-team that

just won the Trophy.

Chris shook about 30 hands in about

twice as many seconds and was

repeatedly thanked, again and again...

A few tears, family & friends....



HonorFlight My Trip

...and we all went home.

Their Honor Flight was finished.

Since then, I’ve

been asked by many people,

“What was it like!?”

Well...

Honor Flight wasn’t a vacation

because I worked harder than I had

in a long time.

Honor Flight wasn’t fun

because underneath it all,

the spirit of War remained.

Instead, Honor Flight was more...



HonorFlight My Trip

...Honor Flight was more

thought provoking.

On one hand, I wondered if we

- the descendant generations -

had properly valued the wisdom of

experience contained inside those

Twilight lives.

On the other, I wondered if we

- the nation -

would ever work so selflessly and

supportively on a common goal

like the Vets did in WW2.



HonorFlight My Trip

What do you think?

The following veterans, historians and enthusiasts made this presentation possible.

Photo and art credits:

© John MollisonWendell HansonU.S. Naval Archives

Door-openersHollie AshworthJoe Noah and The Preddy Memorial FoundationThe Dakotas Region Porsche ClubRick TupperCraig HagenEric M.James M.Dave & Linda S.Craig H.Rick W.Jim L.Terry B.John F.Keith E.Ed F.Jane Z.

WW2 VeteransWendell HansonClaude HoneAlden RigbyJohn Forrette, Sr.Howard Jensenand 16 million others.

Grace and BeautyMy wifeMy family



HonorFlight My Trip

This is my thinking-friend Wendell again, August, 1941. In his photo album, he wrote: “22 years old today. My 4 years as a Camp Counselor is about to close...next month, I will enlist.”

Wendellʼs been a “thinker” all his life, I guess.



HonorFlight My Trip

Oh. One more thing.

I carried along a patch that belonged to

my buddy Earl. He was a fighter pilot.

Born into utter poverty in Wilcoe, West

Virginia, he fantasized about someday

learning to fly out of his Depression-era

coal town. He did, all the way to China.

Earl was keenly aware that “bad things

can cause good things to happen.”

So, I toasted Earl at each monument

knowing that he’d laugh at the irony of it.

Earl died in 2009.

I think of him often.

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Honor Flight - My Story