Tears of One

Earl Morse spent his childhood watching imaginary heroes, those soldiers of Rat Patrol and Combat, once popular TV shows and real heroes like his father and his comrades, career soldiers who served in Viet Nam. Like his dad, Earl joined the Air Force, became a pilot and served 21 years. Upon retirement he went to work in a small Veterans Affairs unit in Springfield Ohio as a Physician Assistant.

Many of Earl’s veteran patients liked to discuss the controversies surrounding the National World War II Memorial – first, the lack of one, then the design, the construction and finally the dedication. Earl asked his patients if they were going to make a trip to DC to see their Memorial. “Oh yes,” most replied. But at their six-month check ups it became apparent that many would never get to THEIR memorial. Either lacking funds, failing health, an ill spouse or busy children made it impossible to journey to Washington.

Earl realized many would never have to chance see the Memorial. He asked his father if he’d like to go to Washington to see his memorial, the Viet Nam War Memorial. They made arrangements to rent a small plane for the three hour flight to DC. Since the plane could carry four passengers, Earl decided to ask one of his WWII patients if he would like to go.

He asked Leonard Loy. Earl had expected him to say, “Gee, I don’t know. I’ll have to check with the family. I’ll get back with you.” Instead, the aging eyes began to tear up. “Oh thank you, thank you,” he said. Caught off guard by the gratitude Earl’s own “allergies” began to flair up, a unusual event for Dayton in January. Two grown men crying in the hallway, attracted the nurses. “What’s the matter?” they asked, expecting to hear familiar news that the patient only had a few more weeks to live. Later when they told other vets and got the same response.

Earl, who belonged to one of the largest flying clubs in the US at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, thought he could get some of his pilot buddies to volunteer. The one condition Earl had however was that the veteran wasn’t allowed to pay for anything. The pilots would paid for the plane rental and other expense. He got 12 volunteers. Arrangements were made and the trip was scheduled for the spring of 2005. Twelve World War II Veterans would be flown to Washington to see their memorial.

Except there was an unanticipated hurdle. The morning the six tiny planes were scheduled to take off spectacle family members showed up. “What are you going to do with my father?” “The last time someone tried to do something “nice” for Grandpa, he ended up with a set of encyclopedias.” Earl patiently answered questions and assured everyone that he wasn’t running a scam and that no one was being abducted.

With the early morning light breaking over the horizon at Wright-Patterson six small planes took off for DC. They passed from one air traffic controller to the next and made it safely to The National World War II Memorial.

The Memorial, dedicated on May 29, 2004, honors the 16 million Americans who served in World War II and the more than 400,000 who died. The veterans and pilots on the initial flight spent several emotional hours surrounded by the granite and bronze tribute. One pilot, Paul Sharp, said that he and some veterans spent many minutes crying.

Meanwhile those who had seen their veterans take off on that quiet morning went home and told other family members. They told friends and neighbors, who told more friends and neighbors. When the six planes broke over the horizon to touch down in Ohio, a small crowd of flag-waving Americans gathered to welcome home their heroes. One veteran later said that his grandkids don’t look at him in the same way.

Honor Flight was born. And Earl Morse is a true angel in my eyes. This year, Honor Flight's goal is to fly 5000 vets to see the World War II Memorial. In 2009, they are shooting for 12,000.
To learn more about Honor Flight and how you can enable a WWII vet to see the Memorial visit Honor Flight.