Local Vets embark on 'Honor Flight'

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Men in uniform assemble to send off those who used to wear the uniform so many years ago, when their collective efforts saved the world against fascism and tyranny.

They are on a mission to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C . A time-sensitive mission with a sense of urgency all its' own.

"There are about 2.5 million WWII veterans still with us out of about 16 million. They're leaving at the rate of about 1,100 a day," said Bob Doherty, President of Honor Flight HTVA .

Which is why the non-profit organization, "Honor Flight", provides trips to WWII veterans free of charge.

"They paid for this over 60 years ago," said Doherty.

More than half a century later, flag waving citizens line the road as the bus carrying members of the "Greatest Generation" leaves Williamsburg and heads for the nation's capital.

"There they were standing in the rain. That's a great feeling," WWII Veteran Bob Kinzer told WAVY.com. "It was really showing their patriotism and I thought they showed a great deal of respect for the veterans."

"We did pretty good throughout the South Pacific," said Sam Pusateri of Newport News, who served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill.

He was just 21-years-old then. Now 84, he made the long trip on a cold, rainy day.

"We weren't pampered. I don't feel uncomfortable at all about the weather," he said.

"I joined the Canadian Army in January of 1940," veteran Bill Story told WAVY.com. Story ended up serving in the American Army with a unit that was the precursor of the elite Green Berets in today's special forces. Story is both humbled and excited about the memorial he is about to visit for the first time.

"Our service to the United States, to America was sufficient. But I'm glad other people don't agree with it and went ahead and built it for us," he said.

Some people didn't agree with placing the monument on the National Mall in D.C., worried it would obscure the view of the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument .

Former Senator Elizabeth Dole said, "There wouldn't be a Mall if we hadn't won that war with the efforts of the people on this bus."

In 2001 the memorial was carved into the ground, leaving the other monuments in full view upon completion of the project in 2004.

"Inward, it's hard to describe," said WWII veteran Arthur Goodwin. "Sometimes you get filled up."

Another veteran of the Pacific campaign, Goodwin visits the memorial not for himself but for "my comrades who are not here with me to see this...."

"Well it was a separation, an interruption of families...," said veteran Benjamin Wright, who also remembers the sacrafices of his fallen comrades. "I hope that I'm doing them proud by being here today."

Veteran Grant Olson urges educators to include a visit to the memorial in their lessons, saying, "...For our young people not to be exposed to it is a real omission in their development as Americans."

And "mail call" on the trip home brings encouraging news from America's youth. Carl Clark read from a card, "'Thank you for all you have done for our country, for winning WWII.' That's a big compliment; I plan to answer that."

"The Greatest Generation" it seems still doing the right thing.