Honor FlightInland Empire Compliments Veterans for Service

How do you say “Thank You” for three nights and four days for a trip that you only dream about.  Permit me to say it this way, in my own way. At 91 years old and a WWII veteran, I never thought much about things I would love to encounter or try even once, but when a good friend of mine told me to call a telephone number and see what I might find on the other end, I did. When that call was made on the other end, unknowing  to me was this beautiful and tall “Black Lady” with a very peculiar name, Marva X. I first thought now, "this just can’t be," but in less than a few seconds, I discovered my "Fountain of Blessing."  Not only did I love what this lady said, but what followed was virtually miraculous.  You see, I am kind of a  ‘crazy guy’ and in talking and telling her my aspirations, and then seeing them all fulfilled, was Christmas, New Years and the 4th of July all rolled into one. For information to those that might be interested, let me save that information until the last of this article.  On Thursday, Sept. 20, my daughter/caregiver, Cindy, motored me over to Ontario and to my surprise I was enrolled and registered for a time that this old-old man, could only dream of. But here I was on my way with a Southwest Airlines flight 737-800 Series craft that had everything along  with 27 other Veterans and a crew of Guardians from the Inland Empire/Honor Flight, for Veterans to Washington, D.C., via Chicago, Baltimore, Denver and Ontario, Ca. When we left Ontario on the first leg to Chicago, I noticed we had only one lady veteran with us, and guess what here name was Sandra Miller, no relation of course, but she joined along with us other Millers, my son, Dennis,  my Brother Clifton (Kip) Miller. Sandra was a real trooper, right along with the rest of the boys.   After all of that it might be well to get on to the rest of this moving adventure, I call it, “my day in Infamy” you see I will be taking another, in the not to distant future, “Called What A Day That Will Be, When My Saviour I Shall See!”   When we arrived in Baltimore, after our flight from Ontario, via Chicago we went right to our hotel, signed in and had dinner of Baked Chicken Breast, Mashed Potatoes, a side of Veggies, Dessert and Coffee by the gallon if wanted.  Some of us hung around the bar for awhile, but then it was off to bed, little did we know what tomorrow would bring. You have read the story, “Morning Became Electra.” I am sure, before that Saturday was finished, all of us would feel, “ya baby Electra it wasn’t, but ‘Electric’ it was.”  The most of us “old guys” were ready to “rest up a bit,” but that was not to be, we hit our shuttle bus for the all day visit to the “War Monuments!” As I recall there were eight stop ‘overs’ for pictures and reflections. I will try to give you all out there a very condensed version of our time in Washington D.C. also included were visual sights of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and of course a quick look at White House as we passed by on our bus. ( Incidentally the Pres. was not home.) Our first stop, and the most important to three of us was, “WWII” Monument, since that was in line with our tour of duty a long time go. I do not know about the others , but this was my first encounter to view anything of this ‘enormity!’  Stepping inside was like walking and looking into a hour glass of another world.  With my guardian at the controls of my wheel chair, I spotted the State of Colorado sign and my picture taken underneath. That was really something since that was my home state where I entered this world.  From where we were, we got views and picture shots of the Lincoln memorial nearby. Going further we caught the glimpse of “the Freedom Wall of 4000 gold stars, representing over 400,000 men that gave their life for their country. There was much more to see but we had to push ahead, in order to cover the entire day.  We went around a corner and there lay before us a black marble wall, it looked to me to be a half mile long, and adorned upon the wall in sections marked to find a loved one or others names engraved into the stone were the names of those lost in the Vietnam Conflict.  It was beauty to behold and then some.  The lines to everything were now becoming longer as day was really getting a head start.   Next in line was the memorial of the “Korean Conflict”  of which, and I have to be honest, as I stood at the head of the memorial of 18 granite men, painted pewter gray, the longer I stood there, I swear I could see them moving through the grass as if in a “rice paddy.”  Taking nothing away from all the rest, I must admit however, that this one is a very moving memorial. As we prepared to move on to the next, I was struck by the sensation, that edged on a piece of rock were the words that sunk deep in my soul, “Freedom is Not Free!” We next headed to the Air Force Memorial.  The air force memorial is a little different in that they are a “splinter” so to speak of the Army.  They were first called “The Army Air Force!” Not anymore, they are a full fledged service of their own, “and I might add, “The best in the whole world!”  It was quite an eerie feeling as we stepped up into monument proper, and all you really saw was three Concrete towers almost higher than the eye could see, straight up, it was beautiful and then over to right hand side was another sculpted monument of three Air Force “fly boys,” looking so real you wanted to shake hands with them. Time to move out again, so we headed for the display for the Nurses and Women In Military Service for America. This ceremonial is at the entrance of Arlington Cemetery, where we also visited and saw the changing of the guard of the Unknown Soldier.  As you stand or sit and watched three military men for approximately 20+ plus minutes, the whole area is so quiet and still that if a pin were to drop you could hear the noise a mile away. During this ceremony there are no phones, rattling of papers or sound of any kind till the soldiers are finished with entire program.  What an honor to see and view the routine they perform and the absolute timing in it all.  And then you realize this tribute goes on 365 days every year and will continue, I suspect until time is no more. From there it was once again beginning to get late, so off we went to the Naval Exhibit downtown.  This is quite a place, a building of mostly glass cases with memorabilia, pictures, clothing and a myriad of other things. As we were walking through we found ourselves, that is my Guardian and my brother looking into seven feet replica of an Aircraft Carrier of an almost forgotten age.  “I turned and said to my Brother, look it’s the Yorktown, “when were you on her, bro?  While standing and visually thinking about those many years ago, a lady stepped near and said to her companion, “I wonder what that was?” Immediately my brother said, to her, “lady let me explain,” he said.  You see she was my home for long time, and I know her, like the back of my hand.  Continuing our walking and looking, we saw many life replicas of our old time sailors and the uniforms they wore. What was another highlight was the view of another ship with the Navy Gun Crew, on Board a Merchant Marine vessel, being a Mariner myself  it took me back many years to my training for a Merchant Marine Service on Catalina Island in 1943-44.  What in really unique about this is, the fact while on this trip, I met a man from Hemet who has lived here for 30 years, the same as I. We both moved to this location in 1989. His name is Bud Barnett. He trained on ‘Cat’ island, 2 years later, but ironically we both shipped for the same oil company on different ships for Standard Oil. After 71 years, finding ourselves on this same flight was no less than miraculous.  Well, that is about it, so let me encourage everyone of you Veterans of war, or conflict while you served this country, you will not want to miss this opportunity to see and reminisce your time of service, but you will  literally relive some of the very minutes, while you were on duty for your country.  Incidentally, all you Veterans here is the best part of the whole trip, its FREE, yep all expenses paid, with the exception of souvenirs. You see many business people, social clubs and individuals respect what you as personnel of the United States Service Men and Women have done in risking your lives for them, so this the way they give back.  So get set to go, a few clothes in the old duffel bag and enjoy one of the best times you will on occasion be afforded. Here is all the information you will need to get you started for the finest trip of your life. Marva X12044 Preston StreetGrand  Terrace .. No. 21Ontario, CA 92313Phone (909) 580-7363gigiluvs @sbcglobal. net