Last November I flew down to Washington D.C. on the Villages Honor Flight as a Korean veteran.
I was so impressed that I wrote an article about my day’s experience. I was also impressed by the Guardians who took care of us veterans the entire day. So I decided that I would do some payback and volunteer to be a Guardian on a future flight however I was told that I was too old to be a Guardian on the flight, but I could be a Guardian on a flightless Honor Flight. I put my name in as a volunteer.
I was selected to be a Guardian on the Sept. 30 flight. On Sept. 18Â we had a Pre-Flight meeting where we coordinated the upcoming flight just like we did for the real flight. I met my vet at this meeting.
On Sept. 30 we all met at the American Legion Post 347 at 9 a.m. There were 23 Vets and 23 Guardians. The Vets were from World War II, Korea and Vietnam Wars. We had coffee and donuts and were given various supplies for the trip including boarding passes for the phantom flight. We got on the bus and departed the Legion 10 a.m. and headed to Eisenhower Recreation Center. We had a police escort initially Lady Lake then it was handed off to Sumter sheriff deputies. Upon arrival we were ushered into a TSA flight check point. Real TSA officers came up from Orlando to check us in. There were also Southeast Airlines personnel to collect our tickets. We then proceeded to a room where we went through a virtual flight to BWI Airport which lasted less than two minutes (must have been one of those new supersonic jets). They then showed movies of the World War II, Korean, and Vietnam Memorials, the Air Force Memorial, the Marine Memorial and the changing of the Guard at Arlington Cemetery. We were all given Box Lunches the same as in Washington D.C. On every flight the group has its picture taken in front of the WWII Memorial. At the Eisenhower Recreation Center we had our pictures taken in front of a green screen so it will later be merged with the Memorial.
We then proceeded to the bus for our trip back to the Legion. We were very surprised to see about 60 motorcycles from the Nomad Motorcycle Club to lead us to the Legion. The Police from Sumter County Sheriff’ Office, Lady Lake Police and Fruitland Park Police led the convoy in their respective areas. Arriving at the Legion we were pleasantly surprised to see hundreds of people waving flags and cheering as we entered the parking lot. As we exited the bus the Villages Twirlers were twirling, the Villages Cheerleaders were cheering and the crowd was clapping and cheering. Inside the Legion Ralph Dinome and the Flashback Band played “God Bless the USA” while the entire crowd which had come inside waved their flags.  It was a day that the Vets, their Guardians, the EMT’s, The support people, the entertainers and the family and friends of the Vets will remember for a very long time. God Bless our Veterans and God Bless America.
Ed Sullivan is a resident of The Villages.
