photo courtesy of Wikimedia

By David Weese
Staff writer
It is said of WWII veterans that they simply came home from the horrors and hardships of the war, got off the bus or the train and simply went back to work. There were few victory marches and ticker-tape parades like there were after the Gulf War, and there were even fewer streamer-festooned arrival celebrations at the docks as the soldiers sailed into port aboard the Victory Ships.
Part of the problem was that there were simply so many soldiers and sailors to bring home that it took months to get everybody back, so there wasn’t one particular moment that could be celebrated, and many didn’t come home until months after the war was over.
Once everyone had arrived safely, America threw itself into rebuilding, becoming the great industrial nation we came to be in the ’50s. And all too soon, the Korean War broke out, and many veterans found themselves back in uniform.
Irving Abramson, who was an Army veteran said, “In 1945 I was discharged for the Army with a few medals (Purple Heart, Bronze Star and unit Presidential Citation), a train ticket home, and an ‘atta-boy.’ My job was to go out and be productive, perhaps raise a family, learn to acclimate to a new way of life since I was gone. It was recommended to all of us that we all forget this horrific time in our lives and ‘move on.’ We did our best to do just that. We got jobs, raised families and taught values and life lessons to all those close to us. All this was done with our own internal struggles and dealing with our own harsh memories. I, for one, did not talk about the war to anyone, including my wife or kids. I had done what I was told to. Although I felt it was the right thing, I’ve had regrets and memories that have haunted me since.”
Somehow, the WWII veterans never really received the recognition they deserved. But WWII was so different from the Vietnam War. Vietnam sharply divided this nation, and became a festering national wound that needed to be healed. The Vietnam War Memorial was built as a way to begin that healing process.
Soon after, the move to build a memorial for the Korean veterans was stated. It wasn’t until 1987 that the move was started to build the WWII memorial. A resolution getting the process started was not passed until 1993, and the project itself was not completed until 2004.
But that created a huge problem. WWII ended in 1945, so that meant that 60 years had passed, and many of the veterans who fought in that terrible conflict were either too old to travel to see the memorial, or were living on pensions and could not afford to make the trip.

The flights begin
So the national Honor Flight Network program was born in 2004, which was started in Ohio by a man named Earl Morris. He started out by putting 12 veterans on a small plane and flying them to Washington, and the program grew by leaps-and-bounds from there.
Mary Pettinato’s father was a WWII veteran who had served in Northern Africa and Italy during the war. While visiting him, Pettinato asked him: “Dad, you’re 89-years-old. If you were on your deathbed today, what would you say ‘I wish I had done.’ He just started sobbing. He said, ‘More than anything in the world, I want to go see the [WWII] memorial.’ But he just couldn’t do it,” Pettinato said. “He physically was just not able to do it. He couldn’t rent a car; he was in a wheelchair; he was on oxygen. He just couldn’t make the trip.
“He said to me, ‘You know; that memorial was built for me and for the fellas I served with, and by the time it was built, we were too old to go see it.’” Pettinato said. “And I said, ‘Aw Dad! We can change that.’”
Pettinato found out about the Honor Flight Network, and when she called to see what she could do for her father, she was put together with three other women, and on March 4 of 2008, Honor Flight Chicago was born. The other three women were Jean Marie Knapp and Nancy Knapp (mother and daughter) and Suzanne Stanits. Pettinato is now president (and janitor) of Honor Flight Chicago.
The way the program works is that donations are raised to fly veterans to Washington D.C. to see the memorial and a few other military sites in Washington. They are accompanied by guardians who help them by pushing wheelchairs or providing any other physical support they may need. Arrangements can be made to provide oxygen during the trip, and certain other types of medical needs or assistance can also be provided for.
The group’s first trip was in April of 2008. Herschel Luckinbill, Honor Flight Chicago Ambassador, said he joined the effort after Pettinato came out to speak to his Vietnam veterans group. He had retired, and was active in his veterans group, so he jumped at the chance to become involved. Luckinbill was on the group’s second flight as a guardian for his neighbor, Ed Wagner. He has since been on 13 flights, and spent many hours volunteering for the group.
In 2008, the group took 6 flights of 60 veterans apiece. In 2009, the group took 9 flights, but began to take 80 members and 57 guardians, which takes up the entire plane. Each flight costs $48,000. “We get enough money, we get on a flight,” Pettinato said.
“I don’t know how to express the feeling I have seeing the WWII veterans taken care of,” Luckinbill said. “I say they’re taken care of better on those flights than they are by their own children. … I think that we owe these gentlemen so much, and there’s nothing we can do to really pay them for what they have coming.”

Events of the day
Luckinbill said the veterans are picked up about 3:00 a.m. and driven to Midway airport. They are fed breakfast and coffee at the terminal, while they are being entertained by The Legacy Girls, who are a modern day version of the Andrews Sisters from the ’40s and ’50s. The Legacy Girls —who are from Aurora—volunteer their time each flight to come out and entertain the vets. According to Pettinato, the vets say, “They’re just like the Andrews Sisters, but much more attractive.”
There are also police and fire personnel there to help send the vets off.Once they arrive at Washington’s Dulles International Airport, they are met by the airport fire department, who give the vets a water cannon salute by forming an arch with the water-streams from their hoses, which the airplane taxis under. There are also greeters who meet them as they disembark from the plane.
Their first stop in Washington is the WWII Memorial. Luckenbill said that watching some of the veterans’ reactions to the memorial can be a moving and profound experience. “They walk around and look at the different names of the battles and the fountains —we take pictures and lay a wreath at the memorial. …They’ll stand there and look at some of the inscriptions on the memorials with tears running down their faces.”
Luckinbill says some of the reactions from the veterans are “so hard to describe. They tell me, ‘This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve never had anybody do anything like this for me before. This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
“We let them dwell on that for a while, then they’ll go on and look at something else,” Luckinbill said. After the veterans spend about two hours at the WWII Memorial, they are also taken to see the Korean and Vietnam War memorials, as well as the Iwo Jima memorial and the Air and Space Museum
One of the things Honor Flight Chicago does is reach out to family members and friends of the veterans, encouraging them to write thank-you letters to vets for their service to their country. On the flight home, these letters are presented to the vets in what Honor Flight calls “Mail Call,” which many veterans say is one of the best parts of the day.
For example, Pettinato said that one of the veteran’s wives wrote letters that included copies of all the letters she had written to him during the war, and included a pin-up poster from way back then that she had sent him. During the war, most young Hollywood starlets would pose for these pin-up posters, dressed as scantily as the morals of the day would allow, as a way to boost the troops’ morale. “He opened them up, and he was just balling,” Pettinato said.
Another vet received a note that contained the footprint of his great-grandchild, who had just been born just a few days earlier. Beside that was a larger footprint and the inscription “Someday I hope to grow up to be a hero just like you, great grandpa.”
When they land back at Midway airport, they are greeted by fire trucks and police cars—all with their lights flashing—who escort them to the gate.
But for these former servicemen, the best is yet to come. “The letters are very, very powerful, and they read them on the flight back home. They arrive at the airport completely exhausted, clutching their letters, and [once they get off the plane] they are greeted by hundreds, if not thousands of people,” Pettinato said. Also there to greet them is a color guard, 20 bagpipes, many other servicemen and women, Daughters of the American Revolution members and even motorcycle clubs. “Met with balloons, signs and songs, these senior veterans at last get the ‘Welcome Home’ they missed in 1945,” she said.
“They’re met by a minimum of 100 sailors lined up making a path, and they are all at perfect attention and saluting,” Luckinbill said. “Those guys salute them back, and you see tears running down their cheeks.
“Then the drum and bagpipe corps pick them up and march with them all the way through the secure area of the airport. Once through the secure area, the veterans find throngs of family and friends waiting there to greet them.
“Many of these guys don’t know their wives are going to be meeting them at the airport, and the first thing out of their mouths is: ‘What are you doing here?’ and then they break down and cry.” Luckinbill said. “Every one of them say they’ve never had an experience like it.
“It’s hard to describe, it’s so wonderful to see us citizens giving back to the WWII veterans, giving back to the veterans who preserved our freedom; from Japan, Germany, and all over Europe. These gentlemen deserve so much credit, and there’s nothing we can do to repay them for their sacrifices. We can’t do enough,” Luckinbill said.

Too old?
Pettinato said that despite all the efforts of her group and the many other similar groups across the country, “We’re losing 1200 [WWII veterans] a day. It just breaks you up. We want to get every one of these guys on a plane as soon as we can to honor them.”
One vet called Pettinato asking what the ‘cutoff’ age for getting on a flight was. Somewhat confused by his question, Pettinato explained that the program was for WWII veterans, so he should be about 80-years-old. “No, no!” the man said. “What’s the cut-off on the other end.”
“You’re concerned you’re too old for us?” Pettinato asked. “Sir, if you’re a WWII vet, you’re not too old for us.”
“Well, I am a hundred-years-old,” the man said. “I’ll be a hundred-and-one in March.” The man was drafted despite his age because he was an engineer, and his services were needed in the war.
Another vet named Herbie called Pettinato up, concerned about the time it was taking to get him on a flight. “Ya’ know,” Herbie said, somewhat gruffly, “I’m 94. I don’t even buy green bananas.”
Unfortunately, age is not a factor in getting a veteran on a flight. Unless the vet is terminally ill, it’s first-come, first-served. Pettinato said there simply is no other fair way to do it.
The group also takes terminally ill Korean and Vietnam War veterans who haven’t seen the memorials. One terminally ill Korean War vet was very moved by the Korean War memorial. He was in a wheelchair, but asked to be held up next to the reflecting wall at the memorial.
As two brawny guardians helped him stand up next to the wall, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find a Korean family standing before him. The family all bowed at the waist, and then the mother said, “Thank you for saving our country.”
“That’s all they said, then they just walked away” Pettinato said. “He turned and said, ‘You can take me back to the bus. …I can go in peace now.’ It was all he needed to bring closure…”

Getting involved
Those who want to register a veteran for an Honor Flight should go to the group’s website: www.honorflightchicago.org. Once there, click on the ‘Get Involved’ link at the top of the page. That page will have links where applications can be filled out to get a veteran on a flight, to volunteer or to get involved with the letter writing effort. A link that allows people to donate to Honor Flight Chicago is on the website’s home-page.
The site also contains a link to a documentary about Honor Flight Chicago that is narrated by Gary Sinise. The documentary was nominated for an Emmy, and found itself competing with some of the local TV stations for the prize.
Pettinato said her organization is seeking two types of volunteers. The first would be those who can help out with fundraising events, manning phones at the office, helping with mailings or other office projects. They are also seeking people who can help with getting the vets on the flight in the morning and those who can be there to greet them when they get home. Help is also needed to interview the veterans in preparation for putting them on the flights, ensuring all their needs will be met during the trip.
Pettinato said that 80 vets are taken on each flight, but to fill the flights, nearly 150 veterans have to be called, as some have previous engagements or are simply unwell and unable to fly at the scheduled time.
Some organizations find other ways to help out. A few years ago when Pettinato was looking for someone to do the group’s books, her daughter, who was on the first honor flight, suggested that “she call Mr. Sikich.” She called, not knowing what to expect, but when she got the company CEO James Sikich on the phone, he said, “Oh this isn’t fair. My father described [his honor flight] as the best day in his life. Of course I’ll do it.” Sikich Accounting in Aurora graciously agreed to audit Honor Flight Chicago’s books and do their taxes for the past few years for free.
Honor Flight Chicago is also seeking volunteers who they call guardians to accompany veterans on the flight and on their tour of Washington, but Pettinato says there is far less need for guardians, as there are many able-bodied family members who are willing and able to accompany the veterans. Each guardian must able to lift 100 lbs. and must take a training course. Family members have first priority, but are asked to pay their own way. Each guardian can be responsible for up to three vets, but they may care for less people if there charges’ physical needs are greater.
“Many guardians, including myself, do this as a way of saying thanks; as a way of giving back. We get so much more than that. These men and women are such grateful, gracious, kind, considerate and humble people. It’s amazing. When the war ended, these veterans were told, ‘get a job young man. Get a job, raise a family,’ and that’s what they did. They pushed down any of their thoughts and emotions, and many of them have never spoken of the war since they got home,” Pettinato said.
Pettinato said that so often, these veterans will play down their involvement in the war, only to find out that often they’d been decorated many times over for their bravery and selfless service.
“These guys didn’t speak about it because they couldn’t, and this trip allows them to get that—what we call —closure,” Pettinato said. “They call it a life-changer. This one-day trip allows them to come to grips with their experiences, and allows them to reframe the war.”
Abramson, who took an honor flight in Sept 2009, summed it up this way: “This day of honor allowed me to accept and close the curtain on that part of my life and appreciate that, after all, I was fortunate enough to have a happy ending. I always knew our freedoms came at a price, and I was able to say a fond farewell to my comrades that paid the ultimate price for those freedoms. Also, I was able to allow myself to be recognized, honored and even cheered for my efforts in WWII.
“I have since talked to a number of veterans who have taken this trip with Honor Flight Chicago. All of us agree, the trip was a life-changer.” Abramson continued, “For myself, I now feel that my service was not just a job that had to be done, but a calling with pride and merit.”
The group is holding a fundraising spaghetti dinner from 4-7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at the AMVETS Hall, 1194 Jericho Rd. Aurora. Cost is $10. A 42” flatscreen TV will be raffled off. The dinner is being sponsored by the Fox Valley Marine Corps League and Honor Flight Chicago. For more information, call (773) 227 VETS.