Area veterans honored with a trip to see monuments in Washington, D.C.

  • Published
  • By Kathy Gattis
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  It was a chilly Saturday morning when 50 World War II and Korean War veterans and their escorts boarded a Southwest Airlines' airplane.

The group was in route to Washington, D.C. to see some of the nation's most important monuments symbolizing the freedom they fought to preserve.

The Southern Middle Tennessee Honor Flight makes two annual trips to the nation's capital - one in the fall and one in the spring.

Lana Woodard and Claude Morse were two of the guardians (escorts) for last month's fall trip.

"Our veterans all seemed to have a great day," Morse said. "Our oldest veteran on this flight was 94. He is a newlywed who served in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II, along with three of his brothers, who all returned safely from the war. This gentleman was 94, but he had no problems keeping up with the group."

Morse is the chairman/director of the Southern Middle Tennessee Honor Flight and he said the veterans for this trip came from a variety of places -- from Signal Mountain near Chattanooga to southern Kentucky.

Morse praised each of the groups who work together to make this a special day for veterans.

It all begins with the sponsors who make the trips possible through donations. They pay for all the expenses; veterans pay nothing to make the trip.

It is a long day and it begins early.

The first bus picks up veterans in Winchester at 2:45 a.m. The sheriff's departments for Coffee and Franklin counties along with the Manchester and Tullahoma Police departments provide blue-light escorts in their jurisdictions.

American Legion riders provide an early morning motorcycle escort from Winchester to the Coffee County line and the Patriot Guard motorcycle riders greet the group at the Nashville airport the morning of the flight - just before 5 a.m.

Morse said personnel at the Nashville airport and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are always very helpful in getting the elderly heroes through security. Employees of the official airline for the Honor Flight, Southwest Airlines, help as they board the plane.

Once they arrive in Baltimore, they board a bus for the ride to Washington, D.C. Reps. Scott DeJarlais and Marsha Blackburn, two Tennessee congressmen, greeted the Honor Flight at the World War II Memorial.

During a lighter moment when the group's bus was parked at the Korean War Memorial, a British tourist inquired about using the loo (restroom).

"All the public restrooms were locked because of the government shutdown, so of course, we let her use the loo on the bus," Morse said. "We all laughed a little about that." In addition to the Korean War Memorial and the World War II Memorial, the group saw the Air Force Memorial and the changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

The last stop is Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. Ft. Meade personnel provide a special evening meal at the post's dining facility. The Ft. Meade Provost Martial, a lieutenant colonel from Murfreesboro, Tenn., welcomed the group. Military working dogs also gave a brief demonstration. Morse said the vets loved getting to pet a friendly bomb sniffing dog who had spent three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When the American heroes return to Nashville that night, they are greeted by the same Patriot Guard motorcycle riders who greeted them at 5 a.m. that morning.
The Southern Middle Tennessee Honor Flight already has some veterans booked for a spring flight in late April or early May. The group needs to raise between $17,000-$20,000 to cover the costs of the next trip, most of it by February to pay for bus rental and airline reservations.

Each flight includes a doctor and a nurse and wheelchairs are available upon request.
Morse said any veterans interested in going on the spring 2014 Honor Flight can contact the veteran's coordinator/scheduler, retired Army Sergeant Major Larry Williams at (931) 924-3000 or email him at tennesseans2@blomand.net. If anyone would like to get on the standby list to be a guardian they can contact Vice Chairman and Guardian Coordinator Lana Woodard at (931) 434-5664.

Those interested in making a donation can send to: Southern Middle Tennessee Honor Flight, PO Box 1926 in Tullahoma, TN 37388. Make checks payable to Southern Middle Tennessee Honor Flight.