Honor Flight – Day One

Early morning flight out of Portland – our Vets were up at 4am to get to the airport and on the plane at 7:00 am. Before we left we were sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for the shuttle, and the hotel staff had made bagged to-go breakfasts for everyone to make sure the Vets had something to eat before we got a chance for a proper breakfast. The kindness of the staff was amazing!

At the airport the airlines let us board first, and this company actually lets you choose your own seats. The flight crew was amazing; they treated our Vets like royalty! They were on top of everything, were really helpful and supportive and made special announcements both at the gate and in the air about our WW II Veterans and thanking them for their service and sacrifice. (I sat there trying not to cry!)

We landed in Chicago for a plane change – But wait! The airline changed their flight plans and we did not have to change planes – they let us stay on the plane and we flew all the way to Washington D.C. The USO brought us these AMAZING bagged lunches and the new flight crew was wonderful. One of the lovely flight attendants was so inspired by this program; her father was a WW II Vet, and he passed away in the spring. Again, our Vets were treated like royalty, and this flight attendant took such good care of them.

At the airport we were greeted by a Welcoming Fire Brigade AND THEN when the Vets got off the plane, they were met by a Honor Guard and escorted through the airport to the hotel shuttle.

Which by the way, the hotel made special shuttle runs just for us and has all our rooms and keys waiting for us when we got here. They also catered an amazing dinner for us

And we had a special guest. A wonderful lady from the office from our state Congressman set up a special tour of Congress for the vets, AND the congressman is hosting a breakfast for the vets. We will meet our state delegation here tomorrow morning, and they are giving us a tour 🙂

Today has been tiring, and we’ve had to put out fires and frustrations but in the long run that does not matter. What matters is these veterans, this experience for them.

I have met such wonderful men, and every one of them has been so humble about what they did during the war. I can’t even count how many times I have heard “Well, I did what I needed to do. I did what was right. That’s all.” It makes me shed tears of such pride.