Honor Flight really hit the heights

I recently returned from the 12^th Central Valley Honor Flight with 67 World War II and Korean conflict veterans, plus our guardians, some of whom were Vietnam and Afghanistan/Iraq veterans, medical team members, and other members of the Honor Flight team.

I want to thank and commend the team for a very interesting and an extremely well organized three-day adventure to Washington, D.C. for a planeload of “old geezers,” 85-95 years of age.

Over 30 of our group required use of wheelchairs, some walkers and canes, so you can imagine the drill of loading and unloading the three tour buses used to visit the various monuments and memorials several times a day. Our military experience in teamwork allowed us to reduce our loading/unloading time to about 8-10 minutes.

Thanks go to Paul Loeffler, organizer of the CV Honor Flights. He was great at getting us organized at the airport early for our departure, and then briefing and motivating the welcoming crowd of over 900 anxious family members and friends at our homecoming!

Al Perry, former long-time CEO of the Central Valley Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center, shepherded his 12^th and final Honor Flight. He kept us briefed and on schedule all three days. Thanks a load, Al!

Many thanks to all who made this very meaningful tour possible. God bless them all!

This story was originally published January 2, 2017 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Honor Flight really hit the heights."