A little over a month ago, we found out that Chad's Granddad Rhodes would be making the trip out to DC - just for a day - with other WWII vets to see the memorial for the first time. (It's part of a program called the Honor Flight network, which sends WWII vets to the memorial for free, many of whom are terminally ill. I love this program. My donation is in the mail!)
Granddad was part of a group of over 160 veterans who came from the Quad Cities area. Yesterday morning, we met up with them when they got off the bus and spent a few hours seeing the memorial through their eyes. It was a really emotional moment.
All of the photos can be found on Snapfish, but here are some of my favorites:
Getting off the bus and meeting the founder of the Honor Flight program
Chad and me with Granddad at the front of the Memorial
Random people stopping to say thank you (I cried)
All 160-something of the Quad Cities vets
The flag that was draped over the coffin of an IL vet who almost made it to the memorial but died in January (I cried...)
Chad and his Granddad at the Illinois pillar
At the wall that remembers the men and women who died
With his photo at the archived records
Granddad in front of the Memorial
2 comments:
A special thank you to those who gave so much. I stand in the highest regard for those who served us in this war. Thank you is such a small piece of the overwhelming gratitude I feel for these silent heroes!
Such great photos! What a memorable trip. I probably would have cried the entire time at the memorial.
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