World War II Veterans Honored with Flight to D.C.

More than 70 aging World War II veterans from Tampa Bay are embarking today on an unusual one-day, whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C., to see the National World War II Memorial.

The veterans will fly from St. Petersburg·Clearwater International Airport on a trip organized by Honor Flight of West Central Florida (HFWCF) and funded by private donations.

The World War II Memorial that the vets will visit was dedicated only seven years ago, nearly 60 years after the war ended. It will be the first – and perhaps the only – time the men will see the memorial.

All expenses are covered for the veterans, and there will be volunteers there to assist them. Many of these men are now in their 80s and 90s, with some requiring wheelchairs.

“When the veteran shows up at the airport in the morning, we know what to expect,” said organizer David Howard of Gulfport. Howard and his wife, Barbara, the group's treasurer, will both volunteer as "guardians," and they're excited to go.

The trip is arranged by the nonprofit, which is run entirely by volunteers, to extend thanks to these aging military heroes. HFWCF is one of 104 chapters of the national Honor Flight.

“My wife's dad flew Honor Flight out of Chicago a year ago,” Howard said. “He was a guy who never spoke about the war (served in Europe) and he went on this Honor Flight, and it just changed his whole life.

"When they came home from World War II, they were pretty much in agreement not to talk about what happened over there because it was pretty horrific, and they haven't.”

The Howards were so impressed with the Honor Flight from Chicago that they set out to form an Honor Flight chapter in the St. Petersburg area. They soon learned that retired Air Force Col. Fred Olson, now president of HFWCF, had already done so. So they joined as volunteers.

On Tuesday morning, the veterans will meet at the airport before dawn, be served a complimentary breakfast and board the chartered flight from Allegiant Air and arrive in Washington early. They will visit the World War II Memorial and other memorials.

George Blackmore, 92, of St. Petersburg is a decorated veteran of the Merchant Marine during World War II. His ship was attacked by the enemy in almost every ocean in the world; he earned three combat service medals and the Merchant Marine Medal.

“The Merchant Marine lost one of every 26 seamen that went to sea. That was more, percentage-wise, than all the other armed forces put together,” he said. “I'm looking forward more than anything else to honor the one out of every 26 that went down to sea.”

How was his initial welcome home from the war?

“Very few people welcomed me back,” he said. “The Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps got the glory, and we were just forgotten about. I'm not looking to be honored. I'm looking for the service to be recognized. That's what I'm trying to do.”

Charles Moore, 86, of Clearwater was a photo navigator for the Army Air Corps on a B-29 over Japan, serving from 1943-46. He will be aboard the flight to Washington.

“We'd go up and take pictures from Guam,” he said of his World War II experience. “We would take pictures, bring them back and brief the bombing crews on the targets. The next day we'd go out and take more pictures and bring them back and they'd do bomb damage assessments."

He is eager to get on the plane to Washington.

“I'm very excited about the trip," he said. "One of the problems is they were so long in building a memorial for World War II veterans, whereas for Korea and Vietnam they built those immediately after those wars. They waited until half of us died off before they built a memorial.”

Frank Poplawski of Sarasota served in the Marine Corps during World War II from 1942-45 and remembers a friend suggesting they join the Marines because it would be fun.

“I passed; he failed,” he notes, adding, “I'm not a hero. I did see three major battles at the beginning of the war in the Pacific. I saw action at Tarawa, Saipan and Pimian and was on the field when [Paul] Tibbets (in the Enola Gay) took off to bomb Hiroshima. That was about it.”

He didn't know, of course, what the mission was. “There's a bunch of B-29s out there; they must be doing something.”

Lester Palmer, 91, of Largo enlisted in the Army Air Corps the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Before that, he had been a flight instructor at Roosevelt Field in Long Island. He remained there on standby-reserve before being called up for active duty.

“My service was not as exciting as some of the others might be,” he says modestly, downplaying flights through the Aleutian Islands. “I consider it quite an honor to be called up with these guys who probably had a lot more involved activities in dangerous situations than I've been in.”

The veterans will fly back to St. Pete on Tuesday night, have dinner on the plane and be welcomed back as heroes when they arrive.

A two-star general will be waiting to welcome each one, and a color guard will lead them through the airport. They will be escorted and saluted by MacDill Air Base cadets, the Patriot Guard, Boy Scouts, families and others.

Howard hopes this trip will hold special meaning for the veterans. “This is our last chance to thank them,” Howard said.

Want to get involved?

The cost of the flights is as much as $60,000 and Allegiant gives HFWCF the flight at cost. The organization will gladly accept donations or letters to veterans. E-mail Leonard Black atlblack1927@aol.com to submit a letter or call the organization at 727-498-6079 to make donations.

Anyone who wishes to welcome the veterans home at the airport is welcome to do so. They are scheduled to arrive at 7 p.m. Tuesday. 

Currently, there is a waiting list of 450 veterans in the Tampa Bay area to take part in future trips. There also are plans in the works to host veterans from the Korean and Vietnam wars.