Lilburn WWII Vet Takes Honor Flight to D.C.

Nine hundred every day.

That’s the rate at which World War II veterans were dying when retired Air Force Captain Earl Morse realized that many of them had never been able to make the trip to Washington D.C. to see the memorials to their heroism.

And so Honor Flight was born in 2005. Morse found six friends and six small planes to take 12 veterans to Washington to see THEIR memorials without charge to the veterans. The reaction of the vets made them realize this was something that should be offered to all veterans again with no charge to them. 

George Morriss, a Lilburn resident and retired Air Force pilot, after a three year wait, made the Honor Flight to Washington on April 19. They visited the WWII Memorial, the Korean Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, Arlington Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

The group of 25 veterans, 25 guardians, 25 wheelchairs, a nurse, several EMTs and a photographer left the American Legion Hall in Conyers at 4:30 a.m. Their two buses were escorted to the airport by motorcycle and police, even stopping traffic on I-20 to allow them to enter.

Obviously fundraising is an obstacle for these trips. It is estimated that the cost per veteran is $400. After much work on this project, there are now hubs in several places in the country and most have a waiting list. Since 2005 approximately 75,000 veterans have made this trip.

Air-Tran subsidized a portion of the veteran’s cost for George's trip. There were greeters, WWII music at the Washington airport, meals, and many perks at the memorials added special memories. One that stood out especially was the water arch over the plane by fire trucks in Washington as the plane was leaving. The extra perks began with a reception hosted the night before by Hampton Inn for “our wonderful guests."

At the WWII Memorial, the photographer had a difficult time getting all veterans in line for a photo due to so many tourists coming by to shake hands and thank them for their service. George was amazed by the number of young people shaking their hands with a very sincere "thank you." Many wanted their picture made with them. George says he probably shook 500 hands.

His faith in the younger generation has been restored. We heard many make the same statement.

The guardians pay their own way, $400. They are assigned to a veteran for the day and George’s was terrific. Since George is legally blind, his guardian read all inscriptions to him and pushed his wheelchair up to the front and as close as possible so he could see a little better.

When they got back about 10:30 p.m. that night and I saw George’s face, I knew he had a terrific time. In fact his first words were “I had a great time." He had been a little reluctant to make this trip due to health issues. But he often says he is thankful that he went and he will remember it the rest of his life. The next morning in the breakfast area the faces of the veterans gathered was proof the trip was successful. Every one of them said they would remember it forever.

The organizers who put this trip together did an outstanding job. This was only the second trip from Conyers so they have not had months or years to “practice." To get all this done at a precise time in a certain spot in two cities miles apart has to be a nightmare. Our sincere “thank you” to all involved in this program.