Photo By Master Sgt. Brian Hamilton | Veterans on an Honor Flight from Tallahassee, Fla. receive a final send-off as their...... read more read more
Subscribe
BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Md. - With the 70th anniversary of the official surrender of the German army during World War II just days away on May 7, one Army family decided to pay tribute to veterans from our greatest generation by greeting them as they disembarked a plane on an honor flight.
On Saturday morning, May 2, 2015, Maj. Gen. Leslie Purser, 108th Training Command (IET) commanding general, and her daughter, Capt. Jennifer Purser, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command company commander, welcomed veterans at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport from coastal Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida.
Those veterans from the Vietnam, Korean and World War II eras were there on a one-day trip to enjoy the monuments and memorials throughout our nation’s capital built in their honor.
Leslie Purser has been greeting the veterans on these honor flights for seven years now, tries to meet them twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall.
“I was first introduced to the honor flights by my predecessor at the Military Intelligence Readiness Command. I was hesitant to do it that first time, but it was so rewarding for me. I was hooked and have been here greeting them ever since,” she said.
But for this flight, also just one week before Mother’s Day, Leslie Purser wanted to share the experience with her daughter, Jennifer.
“For a change we live close together and I was just so glad she could come out to help,” Leslie Purser said. “I just wanted her to experience how excited these patriots are to be here. It’s really been a heartwarming experience for me.”
Jennifer Purser, with her first honor flight in the books, says “the whole experience was just incredible.”
“To be able to meet and speak with these veterans and see the smiles on their faces was wonderful. I’ll be back to do it again,” Jennifer Purser said.
But the smiles were not limited to the veterans and those at the airport to greet them. Those who work hard to ensure every need of those patriots is met on their special day are just as excited to be there as the veterans.
“Honor flight is a fitting name for this operation, but the honor is all mine,” said Tom Starcher, Miami Air assistant station manager at BWI airport. “This is living history. Our country wouldn’t be what it is today without these veterans. It’s touching to me to see them stand a little taller when they walk off that plane knowing that we recognize what they did for us. It’s comforting.”
Starcher’s supervisor, Bob Lowe, Miami Air station manager at BWI Airport, says he has seen a steep decline in the number of flights coming in since he first started working them in 2007.
“When I first started doing this we had anywhere from 16 to 18 flights a season. We’re down to about six to 8 flights a season. I think it directly correlates to the dwindling numbers of our veterans,” Lowe said.
More than 16 million service members served in World War II and more than five million in Korea. Of those numbers an estimated 800,000 World War II veterans and fewer than two million Korean War veterans are still with us today, according to the U.S. Veterans Administration. Those numbers decrease by the hundreds every day.
“There are so few of these guys and gals left that it’s just an honor for me to do this for them. For me it’s like talking to a living history book so we really try to put as much into it as we can. We go that extra mile to give them the pomp and circumstance they deserve,” Lowe said.
So as morning turned to noon, the patriots loaded onto their buses and were whisked away for a tour of their city, on their day - waving goodbye like the heroes they are, smiles not only on their faces, but on the faces of those who made the trip to meet them as well.
“They’re the real heroes. They’re the real patriots! They ensured our freedoms and it’s an honor to thank them for that,” Leslie Purser concluded.
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.07.2015 09:45 |
| Story ID: | 162552 |
| Location: | BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Army family honors patriots, by MSG Brian Hamilton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT