Trip Of A Lifetime For Mobile Area WWII Vets

Alabama Mobile Veterans return from a free trip to Washington DC to see the WWII Memorial.

by Steve Alexander

Published: Wed, September 16, 2009 - 4:53 pm CST Last Updated: Wed, September 16, 2009 - 10:17 pm CST

MOBILE, Alabama - There was a huge celebration Wednesday night at Mobile Regional Airport.
About 90 World War II veterans from the Mobile area returned home to a hero's welcome after a day-long trip to Washington DC.
The free trip was courtesy of a group called "Honor Flight South Alabama."
Cheers and music filled Mobile Regional Airport as the veterans returned home.
They left Wednesday morning to visit the World War II Memorial and other historic sites in Washington, and they returned with plenty of memories.
When asked what was his biggest memory of the day, Donald Pruitt said, "The World War II Memorial. I really was fascinated with it. It's a great memorial. It took a long time to get it, but its beautiful."
Jane Blatchford said what she remembers most is, "I was one of the persons chosen to put the wreath on the grave of the unknown soldier."
David Chichester said he was most impressed by the reception the veterans received.
He said, "Everybody was so kind to us and they were celebrating right along with us."
When asked what he thought of the reception, Joseph Bell said, "Fabulous. God's great, isn't He?"
And when asked what was his favorite memory of the day, Jim Johnson said, "Women."
This was the second Honor Flight of the year, and organizers said they hope to have two, possibly three more next year, depending on how much money is donated.

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bama_girl Says:

Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 5:50 am

Thank you Veterans you deserve the trip. These people put there lives on the line for us just like police officers do. I am not downing police officers at all I have one in my family and I have a solder in it to. The only difference is most solders have to leave there families months at a time.

synchronicity Says:

Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 3:11 am

Money isn’t being donated. The organizer is going around to City Councils seeking tax money. Do you know how hard is is for politicians to turn down such a thing? Precious dollars needed for police, fire and other city services are being wasted on this.