Four nurses seeking to honor U.S. veterans have an interesting way to
serve the Greatest Generation. Registered nurses (RNs) from the Advocate
Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, IL, and Midwest Heart
Specialists spent a day flying to and from Washington D.C. to escort
veterans around our nation's capitol. This is part of a program called
Honor Flight Chicago.
Honor Flight is a nonprofit organization that raises money to take
veterans to Washington D.C. along with volunteer RN escorts. Their
website explains, "Honor Flight Network is our way of paying a small
tribute to those who gave so much?a memorable, safe, and rewarding TOUR
of HONOR!!!" World War II and terminally ill veterans can sign up for a
the free trip. Honor Flight does not receive national or governmental
sponsorship. "Our funding," the website reports, "comes primarily from
individuals across the country who recognize the great accomplishments
and sacrifices of veterans and want them to see their memorial before
it's too late. Other significant contributors have been fraternal
organizations like local American Legion, VFW, Am Vets, DAV, MOPH, posts
and chapters, as well as various corporations on a local level."
The Honor Flight philosophy is, "Since America felt it was important to
build a memorial to the service and the ultimate sacrifice of her
veterans, the Honor Flight Network believes it's equally important that
they actually get to visit and experience THEIR memorial."
Beginning at 4 a.m., nurse volunteers met the veterans at Midway Airport
and headed out on a 16 hour trip. It began with a fanfare welcome for
the veterans where they were greeted with a musical performance of
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and salutes from the Southwest Airlines pilots
manning their flight. Then, again, they were received with honors when
they landed at Washington Dulles Airport.
Nurses spent the day escorting veterans around the capitol, with stops
at some important memorials and sites, including the National World War
II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, the Lincoln Memorial, and
the Iwo Jima Memorial.
At the end of the day, after a flight back to Chicago, the group was
welcomed back with pride. Almost 2,000 people lined the halls of the
airport to applaud the veterans; among the crowd were firefighters,
policemen, service members, family, friends, and supporters.
Honor Flight is trying to take as many veterans as possible on this
trip. Over 1,300 World War II veterans or on the waiting list for an
Honor Flight, but their average age is 87, and some of the nurses see
time slipping away. ?In the next five to seven years, all the World War
II veterans are going to be gone, and we need to get as many of the
veterans [as possible] out to D.C. to pay respects to them for what they
did,? said Good Samaritan RN Jean Heer, a recent volunteer on Honor
Flight Chicago.