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- (229) 219-7281
- Po Box 5941
- Valdosta, GA 31603
Veterans organize Honor Flight South Georgia
The World War II Memorial’s curved wall of stars.
Bert Powell remembers a roar filling the room. A roar from above.
“I went outside and there were probably 100 C-47s in the air pulling
gliders,” Powell recalls. “Those were the paratroopers. The
paratroopers landed first, you know. That was all I needed to see to know
that it was coming.”
Powell is talking about D-Day, one of history’s most ambitious offensives
and a decisive push for the Allies’ World War II victory over Nazi
Germany’s forces in Europe.
Powell was an Army logistician charged with seeing that men and equipment
reached their destinations. At the time of hearing the planes overhead,
he was aware of Operation Overlord. Powell’s desk was stacked with
top-secret files and notebooks with men and equipment’s points of
debarkation for the Normandy invasion, but only the top leaders knew the
date.
We know June 6, 1944, as D-Day. For the men who were there, however,
men like Powell, he didn’t know the timing of D-Day’s date
until he saw those C-47s passing overhead.
Now, Powell hopes to see flights leaving Valdosta. Planes filled
with area World War II veterans heading for Washington, D.C., for an all-expenses-paid,
day-long trip to visit the World War II Monument.
Powell is the chairman of Honor Flight South. Powell and local Military
Officers Association of America President Alton “Buddy” Johnson
are visiting area organizations to discuss the details of Honor Flight
and see that it comes to pass regionally within the next several weeks
(see accompanying stories for more details).
Johnson is a Vietnam veteran who served 20 years in the Air Force
to retire as a lieutenant colonel.
Powell is a World War II and Korean War veteran who spent 26 years
in the Army where he retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Powell and Johnson heard of the Honor Flight programs through their
national MOAA newsletter. The article shared how several communities have
raised money to send their World War II veterans to see the monument. These
various community programs have joined forces and recently held an organizational
meeting in Washington, D.C.
Wanting to bring an Honor Flight program home, Powell and Johnson
attended this meeting. The national Honor Flight program named Powell to
its board of directors, making him the only World War II veteran on the
national board.
Powell says he can afford to pay his way to see the monument, but
notes that many of the remaining World War II veterans cannot afford such
a trip. Honor Flight is, however, for any and all World War II veterans,
Johnson says.
They will be pushing hard to raise the money within the next several
weeks, with hopes of the first Honor Flight South Georgia being made in
late May. Powell and Johnson are acting fast because more World War II
veterans pass each day.
“These boys have walked a tight rope,” Powell says of the World
War II veterans’ service, “and now they’re coming to
the end of it.”
Honor Flight's destination:
Click here for the National Honor Flight Website
Honor Flight South Georgia plans to take regional World War II veterans on a one-day, all-expenses-paid visit to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
HONOR FLIGHT DETAILS
View of the World War II Memorial from the Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.
Honor Flight South Georgia hopes to raise approximately $123,000 in next several weeks to fly regional World War II veterans on a series of flights starting in late May to see the World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C.
The flights are open to any World War II veterans in the South Georgia region from Valdosta-Lowndes County to Berrien, Brooks, Clinch, Cook, Echols, Lanier and other regional counties. The only stipulations are the veteran must register (though no verifying documents of World War II service are necessary) and they must have their own transportation to and from the Valdosta Regional Airport, according to organizers.
It will cost an average of $300 per veteran to make the day-long journey to and from Washington, D.C.
Wheelchairs, paramedics, a Guardian volunteer for every three to four veterans, etc., will be available.
Volunteers are needed to be Guardians. Since all fund-raising proceeds go to paying the veterans way, all Guardian volunteers must pay their own way (approximately $300).
Honor Flight South Georgia joins a growing national movement of communities transporting their World War II veterans for free to see the memorial dedicated to them.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County-based Honor Flight South Georgia will be the first such effort in Georgia.
Organizers Bert Powell and Alton “Buddy” Johnson are available to make South Georgia Honor Flight presentations to area groups, clubs, churches, schools, etc.
South Georgia chapter of the Military Officers Association of America is sponsoring South Georgia Honor Flight, with the local American Legion Post 13 serving as the fiscal entity.
DONATIONS: Tax deductible donations may be sent to: American Legion Post 13, P.O. Box 1005, Valdosta, Ga. 31603.
TO REGISTER A WORLD WAR II VETERAN, to become a Guardian volunteer, or to schedule a presentation for your organization, please call (229) 219-7281; or (229) 219-7213.
GROUPS: The Valdosta Daily Times is offering free advertising for any event holding a fund-raiser for Honor Flight South Georgia. More information: Contact Julie Killion, The Valdosta Daily Times advertising director, 244-3400, ext. 262; or julie.killion@gaflnews.com
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