Although the frost on the grass on October 10 dissipated by mid-morning, had it not, the enthusiasm of the women gathering at the Fenton History Center in the afternoon surely would have melted the rest.
For the very first time ever, female veterans will represent the entire body of an Honor Flight assembly.
According to its website, www.honorflight.org, Honor Flight, “was created with a simple, yet powerful mission — honoring our nation’s veterans by bringing them to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials built to commemorate their service and sacrifice. … Transporting approximately 22,500 veterans annually, Honor Flight Network has flown over 300,000 veterans to Washington, D.C. since its inception.”
As a fitting valediction, family, friends and volunteers gathered behind the Fenton History Center with flags, applause, and no shortage of reverence.
“These ladies have known for some time that this would be the first ever (all female Honor Flight),” said Barb Cessna, Vets Finding Vets Coordinator, “and they are very excited.”
Rose Mary Allen, who served in the Army as nurse in the early 1960s and has been to Washington D.C. several times before, echoed Cessna’s exact sentiment enthusiastically.
“(Honor Flight) is a wonderful thing, but this is even more wonderful because it’s the first all female flight since BNHF began.”
Founded on Veterans’ Day in 2014, Vets Finding Vets is a program designed to allow free access to the Fenton History Center’s Research Center for Veterans who are interested in pursuing family genealogy, locating old friends from their service, or documenting other Veterans in their family. Beginning in 2017, the endeavor began coordinating with the Honor Flight Network.
“[The Buffalo Niagara Honor Flight] is coordinated by Tom Petrie from Buffalo,” said Cessna. “He’s been doing it for nine years, and he makes sure that … everything is planned and that those plans have backups, so everything proceeds effortlessly even if there’s something like rain somewhere along the way.”
Following its departure from Jamestown, the group traveled to Buffalo to have dinner with the rest of the Lady Vets and retire for the evening. It embarked on October 11 from Buffalo Niagara International at 12:20 p.m., and had eyes on the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. by 2:45 p.m.
“We’re very blessed that the Buffalo Niagara Honor Flight hub is so close to us”, said Cessna. “They fly on Southwest, and the flight crews wear flag ties, which I love, especially for Honor Flight.”
“I love D.C.,” Donna LaMonica-Sample, former Army SE-5 said before leaving, “but it will be very interesting to be there with other veterans. I saw the (Vietnam) Women’s Memorial several years ago, and it moved me to tears. I can’t wait to be there and do it all again.”
The World War II memorial and the Korean-Vietnam memorial was the two monuments of focus, but over the course of two days, the group visited every service memorial and tribute. All meals, events, and transportation were picked up by Honor Flight, in part through the donations it receives from American civilians as a 501(c)(3) with a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
Although showing the nation’s capital to American veterans is the reason for the trip, Cessna hinted that perhaps the most wonderful part about the trip was when the plane landed back in Buffalo Niagara International.
“(Honor Flight) posts from its Facebook page when the flight is scheduled to land,” said Cessna. “There’s always a huge crowd there — all ages and types: veterans, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, family, friends, great-grandchildren … it’s quite the reception.” And of course, this time was no exception.
While the goal of Honor Flight is to bring as many veterans to see the monuments their service inspired as possible, preference is given to veterans of World War II and Korea. However, chronically ill veterans of any service era may and are encouraged to participate.
“Unfortunately, because of Agent Orange, some of the Vietnam Veterans are aging faster than the Korea Veterans. All veterans are deserving of this honor (in their lifetimes) and Honor Flight does everything it can to make that possible.”
As the veterans left the Fenton History Center for their departure, they received escorts from the Jamestown Police Department and the Legion Riders of Chautauqua County, as well as the patriotic fervor of friends and family grateful for their sacrifices and service.
For more information on Vets Finding Vets, as well as other veteran specific events and opportunities, please visit www.fentonhistorycenter.org/veterans/
