Honor Flight: Last day in nation’s capital

Saturday was the last day of the Oregon World War II veterans’ Honor Flight visit to Washington, D.C.. Fifty veterans from all over the state started the day at the Lincoln Memorial.

Under Lincoln’s watchful eyes, the gathered to sing “God Bless America” and pose for a group photo.

For many, it was a great place to reflect on the past.

“This is me in England when I was 21,” said World War II veteran Richard Ford while showing some photographs.

The group walked down the Reflecting Pool and arrived at the Korean War Memorial, also paying a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the thousands of names of the fallen inscribed on that dark granite wall.

Their next stop was the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and many of the veterans didn’t want to miss a photo opportunity with a statute of their wartime commander in chief.

“He got us out of a terrible mess,” said veteran Robert Grills.

The next destination was the Battle of Iwo Jima Memorial, where the veterans were greeted by the Marines, who took the time to thank the visiting Oregon veterans for their service.

The impressive memorial shows soldiers raising the American flag over the island. And for one of the Honor Flight participants, it had a very special meaning.

“I watched the flag raising when it was done on Iwo Jima,” said a survivor of that battle, George Griffith.

For Griffith, seeing the memorial brought back many memories.

“The shells were coming down like rain. Day and night,” he said.

After quick stops at the Navy and Air Force memorials, the group made its way to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, where one veteran made a surprise discovery.

“I did a lot of duty on that ship,” said Vern Kube, looking at a photograph of a Red Cross ship at the memorial. “I remember everything about that ship. It was my home for 12 months.”

At the memorial, the veterans and others on the trip were reminded that war is not just part of our past, it is part of our present as well.

They met Steve Ellis, Jessica Ellis’s father. She was a brave young woman from Bend who died in Iraq in 2008.

“We are very honored that the women’s memorial chose to honor Jessica in this way,” Ellis said.

The memorial displays Jessica’s uniform and her helmet, along with pictures and emails she sent to her parents.

“We are very proud of her service to her country,” Steve Ellis said. “We miss her every day.”

Jessica Ellis asked her father to look after her car while she is gone, which he still does to this day. The license plate reads “4 U Jess,” and he has a picture of her with him in the car at all times.

“This is still her car,” Ellis said.

Now, Jessica is laid to rest alongside many other American heroes at the Arlington National Cemetery,was the last stop of the trip, concluding a most memorable Honor Flight.

To learn more, or to donate for future trips: http://honorflightofeasternoregon.org/