The following report by
Jan Mees, daughter of Ralph Conte (669th Bomb Sq.):
Central Missouri Honor
Flight
May 19, 2009
2 states, the nation’s capitol in 20 hours!
Dear family and friends,
I
want to thank you all so much for the letters you wrote to my dad,
Ralph Conte, for his Honor Flight adventure. The experience
was
pretty unbelievable from start to finish. I thought you might like to
know a bit about how our 20+ hour day went!
After a short night
of restless sleep Monday, I awoke at 2:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 19, 2009,
showered, dressed in my special Honor Flight guardian tee shirt, and
headed out to pick up Dad. We arrived at our departure point
right on time at 3:15 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Select in Columbia.
The
bus was waiting and the boarding began – 36 veterans, about 10 who were
in wheelchairs. Loading the wheelchairs and the
non-ambulatory
vets was a long process. Guardians (those of us who
accompanied
the vets) were assigned tasks such as wheelchair loader, etc.
I
got the task of attendance taker, just like on elementary school field
trips. With clip board in hand, I accounted for 56 people
every
time we got on after a stop. On average, the loading or
unloading
of the bus took about 10-15 minutes.
A box breakfast was
provided for the bus trip – Hardee’s bacon/sausage biscuit, a doughnut,
a muffin and a banana. Right then and there, I gave up on my
serious calorie counting and figured I would need all the caloric fuel
for the long day!
The bus ride was easy – not much traffic on
I-70 at 3:30 a.m. We saw the beginnings of the sunrise from the
bus. We arrived at the Southwest terminal at the St. Louis
airport and unloaded the bus (a 15 minute affair easily), took bathroom
breaks (also a long process), got our boarding passes and headed
through security. Unfortunately, TSA ruled, so all of us got
to
do the shoe removal, belt removal and anything else removal as mandated
by law. Another adventure in patience! (BTW, on the
return
trip, the Baltimore airport allowed the vets to proceed through
security without taking off their shoes, but we young (!) guardians had
to obey the law) The gate we were assigned was at the end of the
terminal (this was not supposed to happen, but the best laid plans….)
The flight was perfect. On time, quiet and not
turbulent!
Blueberry breakfast bar consumed on that part of the trip.
The
most astonishing part and one that was duplicated at many times during
the day was the reaction of bystanders. The flight attendant
explained to the passengers who this large group was and thanked the
men for their service. Her emotions were raw -she was literally
crying. Those moments piled up and to me, were almost as
memorable as seeing the war memorials. We landed at the
Baltimore
airport right on schedule
When we deplaned, a local Honor Flight
group was waiting, cheering, waving flags, clapping and welcoming the
vets. They helped get us to our waiting bus.
Southwest
Airlines provided a big carton of snacks and at least 100 cold, cold
water bottles! Box lunches were also awaiting us on the
bus. Even though it was only about 10 a.m. Missouri time,
everyone dug right in and ate delicious Arby’s gourmet sandwiches,
chips and fruit cup. We began our 35 minute ride from
Baltimore
to DC, ate and watched a video on the process of planning and building
the WWII Memorial.
The day was breathtakingly beautiful – blue,
blue sky – Colorado blue! Slight breeze, semi hot sun. The
bus
took us past the Capitol, Washington Monument, and other impressive
government sights. We arrived at the WWII Memorial about
11:30
Missouri time. Individuals in the group walked at their own
pace
all around the stunning memorial. We met at noon for a photo op* in
front of the 4,000 gold star wall commemorating the more than 400,000
Americans who gave their lives in the war. Lo and behold, who
appears but Bob Dole, who was instrumental in leading the effort to get
this memorial built. Everyone in the group was very intrigued
by
his presence and we lingered a bit longer than planned with many photos
taken in umpteen configurations of small groups. Also on hand
was
Senator Kit Bond’s military advisor, a Lt. Colonel in the army but in
plain clothes for this gig (suit!). On the way out of the
memorial, a mid-Missouri representative, Blaine Luktemeyer, was on hand
to greet the vets. Back on the bus, we headed to the Korean
War
Memorial, the Vietnam Wall and the Lincoln Monument. Only
about
half the group descended to see these while the rest of us took a tour
across the Potomac River into Virginia. We saw the back side
of
the Jefferson Memorial and the new Air Force Memorial from afar –a two
pronged silver “french fry” looking sculpture which really looks like
the St. Louis Arch sprung apart. We then headed over to
Arlington
National Cemetery to take a tour ride around the grounds and watch the
always impressive “Changing of the Guard”.
*A gentleman
who wrote a book entitled The Jewel of the Mall is the official
photographer for the memorial and he takes photos of groups
visiting.
The Web site is
http://srbphoto.zenfolio.com/p477781415
Dad and I and our new friend Bob are photo #8103 !!
The
author/photographer is providing each vet with a copy of his book, in
addition to allowing free printing of any photo he took of the group.
Time
to head back to the Baltimore airport – snacks again on the bus –
cheese crackers, pretzels, Famous Amos cookies, etc!
Unbelievable
traffic – Columbia looks like a Utopia in comparison. Unload
bus,
bathroom break, boarding pass distribution, security check (no shoe
removal for the vets!), closer gate location. More help from
the
local Honor Flight group. The dinner that was planned at a
local
Country Buffet type place was nixed due to heavy traffic and lack of
time. The organizers called the airport and got McDonald’s to
box
up Quarter Pounders, fries, soft drinks, etc. which were distributed to
our group once boarding had taken place. The delay resulting
from
the food distribution probably contributed to Southwest Airlines taking
a hit that day for late departure….not to mention the “jealousy” of the
other passengers who were probably salivating over the Mickey D’s
aroma. But once again, the tolerance and appreciation of the
public was overwhelming. Dad and I sat in a row with a frequent
traveler who shared her complimentary drink coupons with us (only Dad
imbibed – I really must have been tired to turn down a free drink,
don’t you know!) On the flight, the mail call took
place.
To me, this was one of the best parts of the whole trip.
Little
did I know the eloquence our family and friends possessed.
Your
letters had me in tears - one letter after another, not a dry eye over
any of them. Well, wait, Julia’s niece Grace drew a beautiful
picture of a flag with flowers surrounding it and that was a real
smiler. Those letters are treasures which will remain with
our
family forever. Thank you for your participation in this
day. (According to the gal who collected the letters, Dad got
the
MOST – 24! He was pretty proud of that!)
But wait, there was
still more that made the day memorable. When we got on yet
another, but FINAL bus of the day, one of the vets had purchased
special commemorative tins depicting the Iwo Jima Memorial stuffed with
chocolates. And the tour organizers had FRESH Hershey bars
flown
in from Hershey, PA, by a retired commercial airline pilot who was on
the planning board for Honor Flight. Needless to say, Hershey
bars were a big hit during wartime and also on the bus ride home. Only
the vets received the chocolate, but Dad shared with me and I snarfed
down my share. We saw the sun set from the bus.
When we
were about 15 minutes outside of Columbia, a group of Patriot Riders
(motorcycle guys and gals) and Missouri Highway Patrol cars provided a
special escort down I-70. We arrived at our initial departure
point approximately 20 hours later, greeted by a huge Columbia Fire
Department hook and ladder truck with an enormous American flag
whipping in a spotlight. About 50 people awaited the bus and
cheered as each and every vet made their way down the steps….unreal
experience.
As you can tell, this once in a lifetime experience
will be etched in many peoples’ memories and hearts for years to
come. I am so blessed to have shared this day with my
dad.
My eyes are still swollen from the many, many times the tears overcame
me. There aren’t words enough to thank those who masterminded
this trip and you who helped make it special, too!
God bless America!
Jan Mees and Ralph Conte
May 21, 2009
