Honor Flight South Dakota: A Journey with 110 WWII Veterans

Noel and Grandpa Vernie shortly after meeting at Dulles Airport

August 20-21, 2010—Washington D.C.—From the moment I received the news that Grandpa Vernie would be traveling on the 7^th South Dakota Honor Flight, there was no doubt in my mind; I was going to share this experience with him.  Originally he was schedule to go to Washington D.C. on April 2011 and my dad would go with him on the trip; however there was an open seat at the last minute and room for my Grandpa and not my Dad.  I was saddened that my father would not be able to share this experience with him.  With great joy and support from Rob, I would drive to Washington in two days to meet up with Grandpa Vernie and the SD Honor Flight so someone from the family could be with Grandpa Vernie and share this experience with him.

Background information about Honor Flight from http://www.honorflightsd.org/: The National WWII Memorial was completed and dedicated in 2004, at a time when most surviving veterans from the era were over 80 years old and were not likely to have the means or support to travel to see the memorial on their own. Shortly after the dedication, the concept of Honor Flight was established by an individual in Columbus Ohio. The idea transformed into the Honor Flight Network (HFN), a group of volunteers dedicated to giving a free trip to every WWII veterans who wants to see the National WWII Memorial. Now, HFN advises and supports this mission through the work of local community groups know as Honor Flight “Hubs”. Honor Flight South Dakota is the official “Hub” for South Dakota.

I departed Chattanooga on Thursday August 19 around 8:30am, along the way I had to take the scenic route through Bristol, TN to see the ginormous race track and race hoopla going on because it was race weekend.  I continued the drive through Virginia and I was amazed by the beauty, Virginia is gorgeous!  I arrived Washington D.C. shortly after rush hour and spent the evening with cousin Alec and his wife Michelle, in their neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant.

Friday was the day—with much excitement I was on my way to Dulles International Airport where I parked my car in long-term parking and made my way to the terminal and arrived a perfect 20 minutes early!  Before I knew it, I started seeing guys decked out in the Honor Flight Blue shirt and good looking hats—the excitement is building as I wait for my favorite Veteran on the flight.  In the distance, I see a guy wearing an American Flag shirt, with a grin from ear to ear; Grandpa Vernie had arrived.  He politely asked the gentleman pushing his wheelchair to “please stop right here” and Grandpa gave me a huge hug and said “I am so glad you are here, this is really special” and we began the adventure together.

Air Force Memorial

There were three buses for our group of about 160 people total and we were assigned to the blue bus.  Arby’s provided all our lunch meals throughout the trip and Burger King provided our breakfast meal; so when you think about it, stop by and support their business.  Our conversation was filed with joy and excitement as we were on the way to our first Destination, the Air Force Memorial.  On the way we drove past the Pentagon and were in awe of the size of that place.  Right across the street from the Pentagon was the Air Force Memorial.  As we stood overlooking the whole Washington D.C. area, I felt so honored and blessed to be having this once in a life time experience with such a special person—never in my life did I think I would be standing in Washington D.C. with Grandpa Vernie and eventually heading to a monument that honors him and all the Veterans from WWII.

Grandpa Vernie and neighbor Earl

From the Air Force Memorial we visited the Iwo Jima Memorial which honors the Marines and the next stop was the Arlington National Cemetery.  I have always thought of this as a sacred place; and my thought was affirmed during this visit.  I was overwhelmed by the vast size of this place and watching the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier was a very unique experience.  For burial in the Arlington National Cemetery, in summary a person must have been in the Armed Forces with an honorable discharge (see: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/funeral_information/guide.interment.html)

Friday evening was spent Honoring the Veterans at the ‘Hero’s Banquet,’ which honored and extended appreciation to the Veterans and all that they have given so that we can live this freedom each day—the veterans present and those who have gone before us were honored.  Beyond the delicious food, the Color Guard presented the colors, we joined together in the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem and heard many stories from the Veterans themselves. 

Saturday we were up bright and early, Burger King provided our breakfast, which we once again ate on the bus, which is the best way to go for meals on the trip.  We then proceeded onward to the memorial that honored all the Veterans on this trip; the World War II Memorial.  This memorial is located on the Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.  As the bus arrived, we saw a little building with the words “World War II Memorial” inscribed on it and Grandpa Vernie joked, “this is not quite what I expected” though he know it really wasn’t the memorial.  There is no experience like arriving the WWII memorial with 110 Veterans who endured more than I can imagine; being at this memorial that honored this group of Veterans was humbling.  I was rather speechless and just blessed to be sharing this experience with my favorite Grandpa Vernie.  Many strangers we encountered were so appreciative and offered a word of ‘Thanks’ to the WWII Veterans—young people, old people, all people offered handshakes, thank-you’s and small conversations.  We spend two hours at this memorial and it felt like 10 minutes—we took a group picture and then many other pictures as we explored the memorial, shared stories and remembered the Veterans who were unable to see this special memorial.   This experience was definitely the highlight of the trip for Grandpa Vernie, for me and for all the people on the trip.  If you ever get a chance, go to this memorial, not just to take photos and enjoy the sites but to think about the reason for this gorgeous memorial; why it’s there and about the people who it remembers and honors.

We spent the remainder of Saturday around the same area; we drove by the Capitol, the White House, Washington Monument, and the general areas of the city.  We spent time at the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial.  We also went to visit Mr. Abraham Lincoln and Grandpa Vernie remembered visiting the Lincoln Memorial a REALLY long time ago and said, “It’s good to see Abe again!”  The jokes and humor carried throughout the trip as we had a lot of time to laugh and share stories.  Another person on the trip commented that they enjoyed watching the two of us; I guess we must have looked like we were enjoying time together!  Our trip was set back when one of the trip organizers was hit by a cab; we ended up waiting in our bus for almost 2 hours.  The good news is that the guy who was hit is going to be fine; praise the Lord for that!  Eventually we visited the Navy Memorial, which is near the National Archives and I highly recommend a visit to this Memorial, very unique and there is also a neat museum that gave you more information about the Navy; both past and present.  From the Navy Memorial we went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum, the Dulles Annex.    This museum is a must visit—there was a lot to see and we only had 45 minutes there due to the set-back of the accident.  Basically the museum is an airport hanger with many planes from when they first were build, to WWII, Space shuttles and more.  Looking at one of the Japanese planes Grandpa Vernie mentioned, “We didn’t even have to look up to see who it was, we could tell by the sound of the motor.”  I can’t even begin to imagine having to live that and experience that for as much time as the WWII Veterans endured.

Grandpa Vernie sold 10+ books on the flight home

Grandpa Vernie also shared about the challenges of being in charge of his group of soldiers, he talked about how hard it was to be making the decisions and “sometimes you really didn’t know what was best, but you had to decide something.”  He also mentioned really thinking about the soldiers who gave their lives and how they never had the chance to see the places we did on this trip.  Specifically Grandpa recalled the soldier who was killed the morning the war ended.  Our family is so blessed to have his stories written in a published book; if you would like to read stories from this special WWII Veteran, please e-mail me at noelchristine@gmail.com and I can send you details on how you can get your copy of  Becoming Sgt. Kahl: Lingering Memories of a WWII Infantryman  by Vernon M. Kahl
BOOK DETAILS:   Written as a therapeutic expulsion of lingering memories, “Sgt. Kahl’s” stories are anecdotes of the good, gritty, or grim sides of life in the 40’s Army. The reader is educated in Army life for a young volunteer from Iowa and his transformation from an Army grunt --as he endures training and eventual transfer to the front lines in the Pacific arena. The follow-up stories of people and events that came into his life years later because of his Army connections bring the stories to the present. “

From the Udvar-Hazy Museum the group went to Dulles Airport and this part of the journey was over—me back to Tennessee and Grandpa back to Iowa.  The good-bye was not easy; but it was definitely an “I’ll see ya later” as I plan to visit the Midwest in early October.  Grandpa shared many stories throughout the trip and after enduring the challenges of being in WWII and the hardships during his experience as a solider, I am amazed at the joy he has in life; truly a blessing that he has pressed onward and running this race with such perseverance and letting the light of Christ shine through him.  This trip was a dream, but truly reality.  I never imagined that I would be standing on the sacred ground of the WWII memorial with one of the most special Veterans in my life; Grandpa Vernie.  Spending these two days with Grandpa Vernie and the whole South Dakota Honor Flight was a true honor and a blessing to me and memories that I’ll always remember; I wish y’all were there.