Hundreds of students entered the art and essay contest for a chance to participate. The winning sixty, along with the Veterans, would fly to Washington, D.C. for a day long visit to war memorial sites including the World War II Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The event was sponsored by my airline, as well as the Ft. Worth Air Power Association. Former news anchor Mike Snyder was the Master of Ceremonies for the day.
I was part of the return crew, working the leg from D.C back to Dallas/Ft. Worth. Because of length of time between the departure to DC and the arrival back to DFW, we were not legal to work both segments, so some people worked out and others worked back. Several of my friends were also working either the outbound or inbound flight with me.
We all got to the airport early that morning to help get everyone checked in. Between the 43 Veterans (42 men, 1 woman who served as a W.A.S.P.) and the 60 students, guardians and media folks, the 757 would be full. Additionally, parents and students were given a pass to come thru security and be part of the send off festivities. My airline has a special plane that has been designated Flagship Freedom, to honor those who have served in the nation's armed forces, and that would be the tail we used that day.
One of the flight attendants working back with us, deadheaded on the earlier flight and she was there as the plane arrived in Washington, and snapped a picture of the water cannon salute they received from the DCA Fire Department.
Being a fairly new site, I had never visited this particular memorial before. It opened to the public in 2004 and sits across from the Washington Monument on the Mall. Behind it is the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial. The memorial consists of a large pool and fountain with a North and South Arch, one commemorating the Pacific theater, and the other the Atlantic. There are 56 granite pillars representing the 48 states at the end of the war in 1945, as well as the eight territories (including Alaska and Hawaii).
The Freedom Wall on the west side of the memorial has 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who lost their lives during the war.
The Veterans laid a memorial wreath at each arch as we paused for a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives.
It was a rather warm day in Washington and for some of the Veterans the heat was too much. We had a large supply of water and food though and the airline sent along our Medical Director and several nurses from headquarters who kept an eye on everyone.
After a sack lunch, we made our way to the Iwo Jima Memorial, or Marine Corp. Memorial. It sits along Arlington National Cemetery and the monument honors members of the U.S.M.C who have given their lives in defense of the USA since 1775. The sculpture is based on the famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal showing troops raising the flag during the battle of Iwo Jima. Of the six men in the photograph, three died during the battle. It is probably the most famous photograph taken during the war. Rosenthal won the Pulitzer Prize for it.
The Memorial was dedicated by President Eisenhower in 1954 (His granddaughter Mary Eisenhower was one of the dignitaries who traveled with us from Dallas for the festivities), on the 179th anniversary of the Marine Corp and in 1961 President Kennedy issued a proclamation that a flag should fly at the site 24 hours a day. It's one of the few official memorial sites where this is required.
When we arrived at the site, the Marine Corp Honor Guard was there to do some exercises for our benefit. They played their theme song and marched around the memorial, and afterwards come and spoke with the Veterans, and we all had time to walk around the memorial.
The next stop was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. We arrived there in time for the 4:30 scheduled changing of the guard. The memorial site was constructed in 1920 to be the resting place for the remains of an unknown soldier who died in World War I. The United Kingdom and France also have something similar (recall that it is tradition for Royal Weddings at Westminster Abbey for the bride to leave her bouquet at the tomb). In 1956, remains from a soldier from WWII and from the Korean War were interred, and in 1984, the remains from a soldier killed in Vietnam were interred (however in 1998 his remains were exhumed and DNA identified him as Lt. Michael Blassie. His remains were handed over to his family for burial and now at the site of his interment the tomb reads "Honoring and Keeping Faith with America's Missing Servicemen").
As we arrived at the memorial, tourists all stopped and clapped as our Veterans made their way to the site. Some came up and hugged them or shook their hands. One lady was crying. It was very emotional.
One thing we learned about the soldiers at this site is that when WWII veterans are present at the Tomb, the guarding soldier will drag his foot as he walks, so that the tap on his heel will make a scuffing sound.
During the summer months, the guard is changed every half hour, and during the winter it is changed every hour, while the cemetery is open. At night when the cemetery is closed, it is changed every two hours. There is a guard assigned to the tomb 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It has been guarded continuously since 1937, regardless of inclement weather. To be chosen as a guard is one of the highest honors, and of those selected for training, only a fraction successfully pass.
After leaving Arlington Cemetery, we made our way past the Pentagon and the Air Force Memorial before arriving back at DCA. At the gate, the Veterans were presented with a medal by their student ambassadors and everyone was given a challenge coin designed to commemorate the trip.
Shortly before we left DCA, we noticed some weather moving into North Texas and Oklahoma but it was forecast to be gone by the time we arrived at 9pm (or so we thought).
We served a dinner on the flight home. Everyone received what we consider a domestic first class meal. After dinner, Mike Synder did a "Mail Drop" where the Veterans were presented with letters from their families and friends telling them how important and how proud they were of them. Mike also asked each of us to announce over the P.A. why we had volunteered for this trip. All of us had some tie to the war thru our families. I explained that my paternal grandfather, Leonard Harris, was a Staff Sargent in WWII stationed in New Guinea. Although he died before I was born, his military service was something I was proud of and by working this flight I felt it was a way to honor his memory.
Here we are in the back galley after the meal service. Greg is wearing the dog tags of both his dad, who fought in World War II, as well as his Grandfather who fought in World War I. Beth and Mary Kay both had pictures of their fathers.
I also enjoyed talking with Mary Eisenhower, the granddaughter of President Eisenhower. She heads up an organization called People to People, started by her grandfather, that allows students to travel and spend time with their contemporaries in other countries.
About 8pm we got word that Dallas was closed for weather. So we were slowed down and put in a holding pattern. We finally reach critical fuel levels around 10pm and were diverted to Houston. When we landed, we learned just how bad the storms had been. When I turned on my phone, my next door neighbor and co-worker Tonya had sent me this picture taken from her backyard, in a text message.
She estimated that the tornado was about 1/4 mile away. I spoke with my family and they confirmed that some really bad weather had come thru the metroplex. We finally took off for Dallas shortly before midnight, but since we had to fly around the weather, we did not land into DFW until just after 1:30am. There were supposed to be homecoming festivities but due to our late arrival it was very muted. There had been a major hail storm at the airport. Hail the size of baseballs fell over the southern part of the airport, smashing windows and denting cars parked in the south lot. Folks on airplanes still at the gate had to be evacuated into the terminal and the designated tornado shelters (bathrooms and stairwells). Sixty airplanes were taken out of service for hail damage. All in all a total mess!
However, the Freedom Flight was still a memorable experience for all of us involved, and even with the delays, I was glad to be a part of it.
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