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HONOR FLIGHT I PHOTOS - MAY 19, 2007

South Georgia shows gratitude by sending veterans to World War II Memorial

By Dean Poling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Buddy” Johnson arrived early to prepare for the first Honor Flight South Georgia journey Saturday morning.
Honor Flight’s World War II veterans weren’t scheduled to arrive until 7 a.m. Johnson, an Honor Flight South Georgia coordinator, arrived at 5:30 a.m.
Several World War II veterans were already there. It seems that the World War II generation has always been there, coming of age in the Great Depression, fighting and dying and sacrificing to save the world from dictatorships, imperialism and genocide, having the nerve to rebuild America and other nations, squaring off with the Soviets in the Cold War.
To younger generations, the men and women of the World War II era have, indeed, always been there. And they have always been  there for us.
These World War II veterans, however, are fading away, passing on. That’s what Honor Flight is about: It is a free trip to regional World War II veterans to see the memorial built in their honor in Washington, D.C.
It is an opportunity for the younger generations to finally be there for them. To finally, in some small way, say Thank You.
HONOR MEETING
Thirty missions in a B-17 over occupied Nazi targets meant a plane ticket home for the American airmen who survived these hazardous bomber flights.
Not for Dr. Lloyd Burns.
Upon completing his 30 missions in Europe, Burns signed on for B-29 bombing runs in the Pacific Theatre. He flew numerous missions there, including a decoy run to detract attention from the Enola Gay as it took flight to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Before joining the armed forces in World War II, Burns said in a joking rhyme that he was legendary Valdosta High School Coach Wright Bazemore’s first, and worst, quarterback. He returned from the war to become a doctor who worked in Valdosta and other locations for many years.
Hearing of Honor Flight, he signed on along with friend and fellow World War II veteran Bern Bechtel. Though they have known each other for many years, neither man realized they had been stationed at the same British base during a period of the war until preparing for Honor Flight.
IN UNIFORM
Friday night, a Guardian volunteer telephoned Honor Flight coordinator Sarah Smith. The Guardian said one of her veterans didn’t want to wear his Honor Flight T-shirt.
He wanted to wear his World War II uniform.
On Saturday morning, 81-year-old Clarence Smith, Homerville, arrived at the Valdosta Regional Airport wearing his World War II sailor uniform. The same uniform that Smith wore while stationed in the Pacific.
He had taken good care of it in storage for many years. A few days ago, he pulled the uniform out of storage, cleaned it, and tried it on.
The Navy uniform fit.
“I actually weigh five pounds less than when I was in the Navy,” Smith said.
He seemed to maintain the energy of the younger man who wore the uniform, too. At the World War II Memorial, Smith seemed to be everywhere, and he was a popular attraction for visitors from across the United States.
“I’ll bet I posed for 500 pictures,” Smith said, still smiling as the bus prepared to leave the memorial.

FAREWELLS
Bert Powell and “Buddy” Johnson started Honor Flight South Georgia in early March. In approximately nine weeks, South Georgians donated more than $113,000 to Honor Flight, and coordinators planned and accomplished Saturday’s first journey.
These goals were met through the efforts of many people, but they were spearheaded by Johnson and Powell. Health concerns sidelined Powell several weeks ago. “Buddy” Johnson’s dedicated work kept Powell’s dream alive.
Though he could not travel Saturday, Bert Powell was the last person to see the veterans and Guardians off. He was the first person they would see on their return.
As Powell wished them well, many veterans offered him thanks. Many Guardians did the same. Bert Powell saluted each one, but many of them saluted him.
THE WOMEN
Two women World War II veterans made the Honor Flight trip Saturday.
Doris Yopp Smith, Quitman, served with the Army Nurse Corps. She registered for Honor Flight after learning of it through The Valdosta Daily Times.
Dorothy Crawford, Tifton, was a member of the 3rd WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) Regiment. She learned of the trip through a live Honor Flight presentation.
Though with two different Guardian volunteers, Smith and Crawford found each other quickly in the terminal and shared experiences.
KILROY WAS HERE
Kilroy was everywhere in World War II. With his quickly scribbled droops of a nose and fingers, his cartoonish eyes, Kilroy drawings were seen from Europe to the Pacific and all zones in between. But mostly, this cartoon World War II mascot was here — as in the always scribbled accompaniment to the drawing, “Kilroy Was Here.” Honor Flight saw Kilroy’s return. Someone placed the “Kilroy Was Here” drawing in the plane’s toilets.
BUDDIES
Every morning, for the past several years, World War II veterans Johnnie M. Shiver and Tom F. Holloman have shared breakfast at a Moultrie diner. On Saturday, they shared breakfast, side-by-side, on the Honor Flight South Georgia plane flying them to the World War II Memorial.
Shiver served in Europe in 1945 with the 35th Infantry, 134th Regiment, Company C. Hearing a speaker discuss the Battle of the Bulge at the World War II Memorial, Shiver didn’t need to hear a word of it, because he knew it all too well.
Through the years, Shiver has kept busy with the VFW, which has taken him on many trips and many flights, but he had not seen the World War II Memorial. After reading about Honor Flight in The Moultrie Observer and hearing a presentation at a Quitman VFW meeting, he, Holloman and two other Moultrie veterans registered.
They were on the road by 5 a.m. Saturday, driving from Moultrie in a VFW van.
Though flying to the memorial, he recalled traveling to Europe aboard the Queen Elizabeth, which was being used as a troop transport during the war.
“Oh, it was a good ride,” Shiver chuckled, “too good. It got us over there too quick. We were in Europe in five days time.”
THE WAIT
At Dulles International Airport, federal Transportation Security Administration officials detained the buses scheduled to give the Honor Flight veterans a ride. The problem was eventually worked out, but it cost Honor Flight an hour of its schedule and the veterans an opportunity to see the Vietnam and Korean war memorials.
Among the veterans waiting on the plane was Foster Zipperer.
Near war’s end, he was training in the Philippines for the American invasion of Japan that never came due to the dropping of the atomic bomb. From there, he became part of the American military tribunal that conducted the trial for Hideki Tojo, a Japanese general and prime minister, who was found guilty of war crimes and executed.
Zipperer can discuss this as well as South Georgia agriculture, and he understands waiting. Of the wait for the buses Saturday, Zipperer said, “That was not a bad wait compared to some of the waiting we had to do during World War II.”
“It’s Washington, D.C.,” laughed World War II veteran Emory Warrick Sr. of the bus delay. “It’s the capitol of incompetence.”
Yet, as several veterans noted in booming voices, one military slogan of World War II was, “Hurry up and wait!”
If Honor Flight is to reflect a part of the World War II experience, why should a portion of it be any different?
THE ARRIVAL
“If you will look to the left of me, this is the memorial you have waited 60 years to see,” says Earl Morse, national Honor Flight founder, “the World War II Memorial.”
The memorial is immense, with portions dedicated to the battles of the Pacific and the Atlantic theatres. Battle names are etched in marble. Battle depictions are etched in steel.
Girl Scouts greet the veterans with candy bars covered in wrappers marked “Heroes.” Former Senator, one-time presidential candidate, and World War II veteran Bob Dole greets Honor Flight South Georgia. He shakes hands. He poses for photographs. He listens to their comments.
THE FLAG
The World War II Memorial includes a pillar dedicated to each state. Nationwide, each Honor Flight has a veteran present a flag at the group’s respective state pillar.
For Honor Flight South Georgia’s maiden flight, Logan Thackrey, Valdosta, was that flagbearer.
In World War II, Thackrey faced enemy fire with the 351st Bomber Group in Europe. On Saturday, with Honor Flight, he was greeted at the memorial by his grandchildren. They arrived in D.C. separately. Thackrey’s grandchildren wore shirts proclaiming their grandfather a hero.
Thackrey carried the flag used to drape the coffin of Lt. Kyle Zipperer, the grandson of Britt McLane, Valdosta.
Hoping to obtain a flag for the memorial presentation, Honor Flight had approached Carson-McLane Funeral Home. Britt McLane offered the use of the flag from the funeral of his World War II veteran grandfather, who passed away in 1992.
GUARDIAN GRATITUDE
Readers can find Bill Hoopes’ name in the book, “Flags of Our Fathers,” and an account of one incident he faced during the horrific fighting on Iwo Jima.
He served as a Navy Corpsman with the Marines. He worked to save lives amidst a grim battle of grueling violence and death. He recalled one incident where his “dungaree jacket was soaked in blood” from trying to save an American life.
Hoopes of Quitman found Honor Flight’s Guardian volunteers to be most impressive.
“A lot of veterans here today never would have seen this if not for these public-spirited Guardians,” he said. “They have done a wonderful thing.”
ARLINGTON
Conversation comes to a dry halt driving into Arlington National Cemetery. Jagged teeth of tombstones jut from the emerald green of the grounds — row upon row upon row upon row of military and war dead.
The buses stop as the veterans visit the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The soldiers are crisp in the sounds of their salutes. The veterans are silent in their respects. 
Uniforms pass. The guard has changed. The veterans return to the buses. Rows of tombstones pass just outside the windows. Pass and change like time and youth and a sunny day.
BEST DAY
Wendell Johnson, Valdosta, served with the Army in the Southwest Pacific. He returned from the war to work as a federal employee for many years before returning and becoming an officer in the local National Association of Retired Federal Employees.
Asked about his Honor Flight experience, Johnson pauses along a walkway, the memorial bending and curving all around him and hundreds of visitors, the starkness of the Washington Monument splitting a deep blue sky on the horizon.
“Best day ever,” Johnson answers. “It’s the greatest thing of my life.”
Several veterans echo Wendell Johnson’s words.
Levaniel B. Thompson served in the Pacific at war’s end. He had hoped to find a souvenir shop to commemorate the event, but he will always recall this day.
On the bus then on the plane, the veterans comment on how such a diverse group of people all got along so well through the common bond of their World War II experiences.
They mention the grandeur of the World War II Memorial. They enjoy the camaraderie of their fellow veterans, the care of their Guardian volunteers, the  crystal weather, the people who stopped to ask them questions about Honor Flight and the war.
The people who said thanks.
As the sun faded on the horizon, the plane descended into Valdosta Regional Airport. Hundreds of people await the veterans inside the terminal. Dozens more line the fence by the tarmac. It is a festive mood of welcome and celebration. They wait for the return of the men who, so many years ago, left their homes little more than boys and returned heroes.
Inside the plane, the veterans applaud and cheer as the pilot announces, “Welcome home.”