(Rockwall) August 19, 2013 – Linda Robinson, USO Honor Flight Coordinator for Dallas/Fort Worth will be the featured speaker for the September 10th meeting of Friends of the Rockwall County Library. Her topic, “Defenders of Freedom” will give details about the Honor Flights for DFW area World War II veterans. The public is invited to attend.
Honor Flight DFW is a non-profit organization created to honor north Texas veterans and has flown more than 488 to Washington, D.C., with more trips planned. Each veteran is accompanied by a “guardian” and a medical team is on board each flight.
Veterans are escorted on an all-expenses-paid trip with two days of activities and visits to war memorials, beginning with a visit to “their” memorial.
Press information from the organization describes the visit to the WW II memorial. “They reflect at their memorial and share that moment with the only other people who could possibly understand – other veterans.”
Although WW II ended in August 1945 with the surrender of Japan, the memorial to the “Greatest Generation” was dedicated on May 29, 2004 almost 60 years after V-J Day. At that time, the youngest of the WWII veterans were in their late seventies.
While created to honor all veterans, priority is given to veterans who fought in WW II. Now in their 80s and 90s, there are more than 400 area WWII veterans on the waiting list.
Honor Flight DFW needs funding and volunteers to increase the number of flights. There are several ways to help. More information about how to donate, how to submit veterans’ names, and volunteer opportunities may be found at honorflightdfw.org.
All meetings of Friends of the Library are open to the public; however reservations are required and must be made no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday September 3rd. Meetings are held in the Community Room of the Rockwall County Library, start at 11:00 a.m. and are followed by a luncheon by Zach’s Catering. Cost is $15, payable at the door. Call 972-771-8976 or e-mail cplagens65@aol.com.
Story and photos submitted by Nell Welborn.
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