Honor Flight serves ‘Greatest Generation’

On April 26, I traveled to Washington, D.C. on the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight out of Cedar Rapids. This was one of the most momentous and emotional trips I have ever been on. I was on the flight as a guardian for two World War II veterans who were going to see their memorial.

This was an actual living and breathing history trip, an actual chance to hear about the experiences of the individual soldier, sailor, marine or airman. And judging from some of the stories I heard, those experiences were widely varied and fascinating. “The Greatest Generation” has often been used to describe this group. Whether male or female (and we had some female veterans on this flight), this term is aptly suited and appropriate to describe them. I applaud them for their dedication, devotion, and service to their country.

The Eastern Iowa Honor Flight organization is also to be congratulated for their efforts to support the veterans on this flight. Everything a veteran would possibly need was taken into consideration.

Seeing the expression on the veterans' faces as we arrived at the memorial, was, to quote a certain credit card commercial, “priceless.”

George Rickey

Iowa City