Press release
The Sarah Maples Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution were honored to have three Cedar Creek Lake area residents come and tell us about their trip on the Honor Flight to Washington D.C. John White had dozens of pictures that he had put together on slides to shown us and talk about the World War 11 memorial, and other memorials that they saw.
In 2005, a retired Air Force captain realized that veterans of World War II were unlikely to ever see their memorial on their own and and Honor Flight was born, taking 98,500 World War II veterans to see their memorial at absolutely no cost to the veterans. Their are still many who are physically able to make the trip, if only Honor Flight can locate them. Honor Flight’s mission has expanded to include Korean War veterans, and Honor Flight needs help finding them as well. Funding is private and guardians who accompany each veteran pay their own way for the privilege of spending a day with a living history treasure. Honor flight wants to give the gift a trip to Washington D.C. to every veteran of these wars who would not otherwise have a chance to see their memorials. Honor Flight is a gift to veterans, a tangible way to say thank you to the men and women who put their lives on hold for years in service to their country.
An Honor Flight is a long day for veterans. They visit the Iwo Jima, Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Arlington Cemetery,Vietnam Memorial and Korean War Memorials in the space of six or seven hours. Active duty service members sometimes accompany the group on their day-long pilgrimage.
Jean Small has been a member of the Sarah Maples Chapter of DAR for many years. She wears the DAR pins of her grandmother who was also a member of DAR. Jean always has a big smile and a willing attitude to help with any project that DAR is working on. Jean enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943. Jean was stationed in Washington D.C. when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. She met and married her husband while stationed in Washington.
John White enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942, he graduated from Pilot’s Training in June of 1944. He was assigned to Military Transport Command at Love Field in Dallas. The mission of this command is to supply and support military bases and state dept. embassies all over the world. While stationed at Love Field he married his high school sweetheart in 1945. John retired from the Air Force in 1963.
Regent Helen Preston welcomed the veterans and thanked them for their service in WW II.