Millions of people regularly travel to Washington D.C. to see the National WWII Memorial. And yet, sadly, many of the veterans this memorial celebrates don’t have resources to make that trip. I feel strongly that they should have the opportunity to experience the respect and admiration embodied in the memorial.
So, with that in mind, in April of 2012, I got involved in Honor Flight, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing veterans to visit the WWII memorial in Washington D.C. Fortunately, I was able to fill a need for a photographer to capture these men and women during their journey to the nation’s capital to glimpse this monumental tribute to their service.
My grandfather was a WWII veteran, and I wanted to do something and give back to the Greatest Generation. This desire became even more urgent after I learned that WWII veterans are dying at a rate of more than 600 per day; and that there are veterans on Honor Flight’s waiting lists who have passed before they were chosen to go. The organization’s director told me that Honor Flight Kern County’s inaugural trip would launch the following month, on May 25, 2012 (Memorial Weekend).