Posted 12:00 PM | Mar 10, 2010
More than six decades after serving in the Pacific theater, 250 veterans are about to pay their first visit to the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.
The Honor Flight Network (a national non-profit that provides airfare and lodging so veterans can visit "their" memorials at no cost) has arranged this special series of flights that will land the visitors in D.C. for a March 11 tour of the National Mall. The organization relies on donations to finance the trips, as well as corporate sponsors like American Airlines and Marriott International.
Veterans from Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Orlando will meet the members of Congress serving their districts, along with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and former Sen. Bob Dole, a WWII veteran himself. Tom Hanks, an exec-producer for 'The Pacific,' will also welcome the group to D.C.
"I've never seen the World War II memorial or the Korean War memorial," says retired Marine Chief Warrant Officer Edmond Farah, "and being a Pacific veteran, I thought, 'Now is the time to go.'"
[Honor Flight Network]
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