Last Saturday Gary and I were in the flag line with Patriot Guard Riders to welcome home the WWII vets on the inaugural Montana Honor Flight.
We didn't know anything about this until our friends told us at breakfast in Rockvale. Gary didn't get the e-mail from the Patriot Guard on this event. The flight wasn't coming into Billings until 8:00 that night. There was no way we could do this that late.
Our friends Dean Luptak and Lynn Davis invited us to stay at their house so we could participate. We took them up on their offer. They live in Rehberg Ranch near the airport. This is the couple that hosts the Halloween and St. Patrick's parties.
We so unprepared for this, didn't have our flags and most importantly no change of clothes for the next day, our chapter ride and meeting. I also didn't have my notebook so that I could take minutes.
We went to the house to get freshened up before heading over to the airport. Had to be at the airport at 7:00 pm. The airport has special parking for people to welcome home the WWII vets. We were in the over flow parking which would mean alot of walking to get to the terminal, but there were shuttle buses running.
The airport was packed, must have been at least 500 people to welcome the vets home. Many were family and friends. One of the local high schools had their band playing the theme songs of the branches and other patriotic songs.
As luck would have it, the flight was delayed an hour. The vets didn't land until 9:15 pm. The flag line was on both sides of the stairway and by the elevator. What a sight to see when the vets deplaned. The crowed cheered for everyone and the cheers were loud for the very last vet as the first vet. There were some in wheelchairs and they were rolled to the top of the stairs so that they could see the crowd, then went down in the elevator. The vets were very surprised at their homecoming.
There were a couple that wore their original uniforms. The Navy vet was a pretty spry man, he went down the stairs, kissed all the women and shook all the mens hands. Gary said his grip was very strong. My friend Lynn was so impressed by her first kiss by a sailor. She asked me how I felt about it and had to admit that I've been kissed by a sailor before. People forget that I'm a vet.
After it was over, we were able to visit with some of the vets. Everett Bullis and Bill Smith from Hardin were on the flight and I was able to visit a bit with a Woman Marine vet. She was very surprised to learn that I'm a Marine vet. I thanked her for blazing the trail to allow women like me to enlist and she thanked me for blazing the trail for younger women.
These vets were sure tired. They left early Friday morning, did all the touring around Washington DC and then flew back on Saturday evening. Everette said that it was worth every minute and he has plenty of time to rest at home.
We were so glad that we were able to participate in this. The next flight will be in September and we are definately going to donate more money. At first we didn't understand why so much money had to be raised. Each vet was allowed to bring an escort. There was also medical personnel, reporters and other dignitaries.
1 comment:
Glad you got to be a part of this. One of our coffee buddies was on the last flight for Wyoming. He was very impressed and glad he went. He had some nice pics to share as well. You might be able to get Mr Bullis to tell you what all they got to see. One of our Gooseberry fellows got to go and then a few months later he died. He was thrilled to go and his family was grateful he got to go too.
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