[ back ]
World War II veterans 'honored' in Washington
(by Sali McSherry - September 03, 2009)
World War II veterans 'honored' in Washington
By SALI McSHERRY
World War II veterans Charles Parson and John Sedlak both admitted they were in tears when they exited a plane in Baltimore and found 200 people clapping and cheering for them and their fellow veterans.
In their 80s and close friends since they were in high school and living a half-mile apart in Shaker Heights, the two were invited on a free one-day trip to Washington, D.C., to visit war memorials, along with 35 other World War II veterans hosted by the nonprofit all-volunteer Honor Flight Cleveland.
Mr. Sedlak, of Pepper Pike, said he was approached by a friend who had gone on the trip and asked him if he would like to participate. A member of the U.S. Army Infantry, Mr. Sedlak invited Mr. Parsons, of Chagrin Falls, who was a Seabee in the U.S. Navy during the war.
They were whisked away in a bus, and the first stop was the World War II memorial located on the National Mall at the eastern end of the reflecting pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. The memorial consists of walls, a plaza and a pool of water with a fountain. The memorial is comprised of 56 pillars arranged in a semicircle around a plaza with two arches and the Freedom Wall, which has 4,084 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war. Two other walls depict scenes of the war experience in base relief and a plaza surrounds a pool of water and fountain.
Mr. Parsons described it as a relaxing place to walk and reflect. The memorial doesn't depict the horror of war, he said, and physically it has "elegant refinement."
Mr. Sedlak said nobody talked about the war while at the memorial. He said they "all were just happy to be there and be part of it."
The group was met by former U.S. Sen. Robert Dole and his wife, former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Mr. Dole was pivotal in fund-raising efforts for the memorial.
The veterans then had a buffet lunch and visited the Iwo Jima Memorial. "What a statue," Mr. Parsons said. "The men in that effort did go through hell until they got to the top of the mountain to plant the U.S. flag. A huge loss of life since the Japanese were all dug in and Americans had no place to hide going from the beach to the top of that mountain."
The group also visited the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, Lincoln Memorial and drove by the Air Force Memorial.
Next, Mr. Sedlak said, was a visit to Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
"It was quite impressive with four of the veterans participating in laying a wreath at the tomb as they blew taps," Mr. Parsons said.
A Canadian woman thanked Mr. Parsons for his service in the war and took a photograph of him with her two teenage sons. Once again, he said, he shed a tear.
A trip that began at 5 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m. was perfect, Mr. Sedlak said. He liked the camaraderie among the veterans and volunteers and said he "thought about all the guys in my outfit who didn't come back."
The volunteer guardians were most accommodating, Mr. Parsons said. There were wheelchairs for those who needed them, the bus pulled up close to the memorials and there was minimal walking. Mr. Sedlak said he wanted to especially thank Joe Benedict, first vice president of the board, who is in charge of flight operations for Honor Flight Cleveland.
The Honor Flight Network was conceived by Earl Morse, a physician assistant and retired U.S. Air Force captain who in 2004 asked one of his World War II patients if he could fly him to see the memorial in Washington. And that led to another trip and then a request of fellow pilots to take veterans to see the memorial. Since 2005, the program which has been made possible through donations, has taken thousands of veterans across the country to visit the capitol, including 25,000 this year, and all at no cost to the veterans.
World War II veterans have waited 60 years for a memorial, which finally was completed in 2004.
"For me," Mr. Parsons said, "I was always going to see the WWII memorial since it opened, but always put it off, and then I decided it was too much of a trip -- driving, motel parking, etc. so forgot it. This is the story of all our veterans I talk to today."
About 1,500 World War II veterans die every day, according to Honor Flight Network, and the youngest veterans are over 79 years old. In another five to 10 years, almost all World War II veterans could be gone. Honor Flight Cleveland flies approximately 70 veterans every month to Washington, D.C.
At some point, Honor Flight Network plans to fly veterans of the Korean War to the capitol.
[ back ]
