Southwest & Central Virginia Honor Flight prepares for 10th annual trip to Washington D.C.
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Southwest and Central Virginia will celebrate the 10th annual Honor Flight that is set to take off to bring veterans from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam the chance to visit memorials created in their honor. It is said to be a journey of a lifetime to give veterans who were not properly thanked for their service a chance to receive thanks.
The Honor Flight will take place in Washington, D.C., from April 4 to 6, and the visiting veterans will be free of charge. Martin Leamy joined WFXR News to share more information about this opportunity for veterans.
Martin Leamy said, 'The Honor Flight is a Nationwide organization comprised of regional hubs or chapters that is a nonprofit organization. We do our own trip planning, fundraising, marketing, and most of the hubs do the geography fly into the D.C. area to visit the memorial. There is about eight of us that are close enough to ride a bus up there, and that's kind of our situation. We are actually honor bus if you want to put it that way.'
Leamy talked about how eye-opening it is to see veterans coming to visit as their mission is to take veterans up there to see the memorials created in their honor. He explained that the visitation of the men and women is a 'means to an end' to bring the veterans closure and healing and the gratitude that many did not receive when they returned from overseas.
Honor Flight taking local veterans to Washington D.C. in recognition of service
Leamy got involved with the Honor Flight when he first started as the Director of Facilities and Risk management for the National D-Day Memorial in Tennessee. The Tennessee Hub would stop there, and he worked with them on their visiting logistics. 2014 was the 70th anniversary of the D-Day attack, and he worked with Jeff Miller to bring around 320 WWII and D-Day veterans from Tennessee and South Florida to see the commemoration ceremony.
Leamy said, 'I got to know Jeff Pretty Well, and he invited me to start participating in their Honor Flight summit, which is their annual meeting up in Baltimore. I was up there plugging the memorial for about two years, and I had this epiphany, 'Hey you need to look at the map to see where the hubs are in Virginia.' I looked, and there was one in Tide Water, and there was one up in Stephen City, which is up near Winchester, and there was a big hole in our part of Virginia.'
He then went to Jeff to get into the business to get a role to get Southwest, Virginia on a flight, and 2018 was when they took the inaugural trip.
This event is still in need of volunteers and has no paid staff as they have guardians that aid the veterans on the trip. The guardian's primary job is to ensure veteran safety to prevent a fall especially as they get off the bus. Guardians are trained for three hours before the event to be the companion of the veteran during the entire trip.
Guardians are asked to donate $400 to help cover their trip costs, and their applications are screened and accepted on a first come, first serve basis.
To learn more or to apply as a guardian, you can visit cswvirginiahonorflight.org.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CT Veterans Alliance to collect gently used books during D-Day of Remembrance rally
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The Connecticut Veterans Alliance will host a book drive during a D-Day of Remembrance rally Friday in memory of Sgt. Daniel R. Keegan to benefit Operation Paperback. The event will be on Friday at the Connecticut State Capitol Building from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The book collection will benefit American troops overseas, veterans and military families. Requested genres include: Bestsellers Action Murder mysteries Fantasy Science fiction Business and investing Classics History Current events and nonfiction Children's books Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘This is our duty': D-Day veterans gather to mark landings 81 years on
D-Day veterans have gathered on a Normandy beach to remember the landings 81 years on. The veterans, aged between 99 and 101, travelled to France for the annual ceremony of remembrance for the men who landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6 1944, to liberate France from Nazi occupation during the Second World War. The five men – Ken Hay, Richard Aldred, Henry Rice, Jim Grant and John Dennett – gathered ahead of the ceremony for a photograph on Sword Beach, one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast. The veterans, sitting in wheelchairs while adorned with medals of service, are some of the few D-Day veterans who are still alive today. Mr Hay, 99, was a private in the 4th Battalion with the Dorset Regiment, and was captured by Nazi troops shortly after the D-Day landings. Held as a prisoner of war, he was taken to Poland and forced to work in coal mines before he was liberated by US troops in 1945. On the eve of the ceremony, Mr Hay told The Telegraph: 'Even though the 80th anniversary has passed, we veterans still feel it is our duty to come back here and remember all our friends who never came home. 'We get applauded, even though they are the ones who gave all. 'Sharing my stories with children in the UK and France is something I am very passionate about. We are the age of their great grandparents – we experienced it, understand it and know that it should never happen again.' Francis 'Jim' Grant, 100, served as a Royal Marine and manned a gun on a Landing Craft Flak on D-Day, spending many hours providing covering fire for troops landing on the Normandy beaches. He said: 'I don't think we were really prepared for what happened. We were firing over the tops of their heads.' John Dennett, 100, was a Royal Navy anti-aircraft gunner on one of the thousands of ships taking troops onto the Normandy beaches. The veteran, from Wallasey, Merseyside, made sure the Allied soldiers did not get shot from overhead during the combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France. On the 80th anniversary of the famous landings last year, Mr Dennett recalled the 'unbelievable' sight of the ships sailing to Normandy. He said he remembered the sight of the 7,000 ships and thinking 'nothing can happen to us'. 'When they'd gone and opened their fire and they did realise there was trouble, and your feelings were 'well this one is a bit different than the last one',' he added. Mr Rice, 99, from Cranleigh, Surrey, was a signalman who arrived off Juno Beach five days after D-Day. While Mr Aldred, 100, was a Cromwell tank driver attached to the 7th Armoured Division in the Army. Their photographs came before Lord Dannatt, former head of the Army, spoke at the remembrance service at the British Normandy Memorial above Gold Beach. He said the legacy of the soldiers killed on the battlefields of Normandy paved the way for the Europe in which we live today, before warning that the shadow of the Ukrainian war looms over the continent. The former chief of the general staff added: 'The price of returning peace and freedom to Europe was very high but the legacy of the fallen and the courage, determination and commitment of all those who fought in the Normandy Campaign has given us the Europe in which we live today, albeit in the shadow of the war in Ukraine.' Lord Dannatt, who chairs the Normandy Memorial Trust and is patron of the Spirit of Normandy Trust, gave the welcoming speech at the annual ceremony of remembrance, which is led jointly by the two trusts. The Rev Simon d'Albertanson, a Royal Navy chaplain and the chaplain for the Spirit of Normandy Trust, led a memorial service at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, describing D-Day as a 'seminal moment in history'. He reminded veterans, officials and members of the public that the legacy of D-Day was vitally important given the conflict and 'troubled times that we live in'. Mr d'Albertanson said: 'This was a seminal moment in history, and we forget it at our peril. 'There's a legacy that builds from the different conflicts, and we live in very troubled times right now, and we need men and women who are fighting for peace. 'As a Christian, one of the lines in the Bible is 'Blessed are the peacemakers'. 'We're called to make peace and sometimes that means we have to bring violence, but that's the last resort. We want to be peacemakers.' Two of the chaplain's own relatives fought during the Second World War. His grandfather, Fred Hawker, joined the Royal Marines in 1942 and served on several ships, including HMS Ark Royal, while his great-uncle, who was a Royal Navy sailor, lost his life during the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Mr d'Albertanson said: 'It's an absolute honour and a privilege to be a part of this. This is all about the veterans and honouring the fallen, those who gave their lives, for our freedom. 'Being here brings it to life. 'It makes you realise what you're involved in, the men and women of the armed forces today – and as chaplains we go with them.' John Healey, the Defence Secretary, also attended events commemorating D-Day, alongside politicians from the United States and France. He said: 'We forever owe an enormous debt to the British and Allied forces who landed in Normandy 81 years ago today, determined to defeat Nazi tyranny and restore peace to western Europe. 'As we reset the nation's contract with our armed forces, we will continue to remember all those who served to defend our values.' The Normandy landings took place on June 6 1944, when nearly 160,000 Allied forces opened a second front by invading Nazi-occupied France. Of those, 73,000 were from the United States and 83,000 from Britain and Canada. Forces from several other countries were also involved, including French troops fighting with General Charles de Gaulle. The Allies faced around 50,000 German forces and a total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
D-Day's Legacy: Aging Heroes Urge Freedom's Remembrance
On June 6, 1944, nearly 160,000 Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy in an assault that would be the beginning of the end for Nazi-occupied Western Europe. Operation Overlord, as the invasion was called, stands not only as a military triumph but also as a testament to courage, sacrifice, and the responsibility of remembrance—remembering those who lost their lives for our freedom. The human cost of that day and the weeks that followed was staggering. More than 4,400 Allied soldiers died on D-Day alone. Germany suffered approximately 320,000 total battle casualties during the campaign, with 30,000 killed, 80,000 wounded, and around 210,000 reported missing: over 70% of the missing were later confirmed as prisoners of war, according to German Military records. In contrast, the United States recorded around 135,000 casualties, with 29,000 killed and the rest either wounded or missing. The UK suffered around 65,000 battle casualties, with 11,000 killed and 54,000 wounded or missing. However, these sacrifices laid the groundwork for breaking the Nazi grip on Europe and expediting the collapse of the Third Reich. Today, on the beaches of Normandy, veterans and their families gathered to honor those who never came home. Parachute jumps, flyovers, and solemn parades paid tribute to a generation that reshaped the world. Among those honored was 101-year-old Harold Terens, a radio repairman who served with the Allied forces alongside centenarians Arlester Brown and Wally King, per AP News. As the years pass, the number of D-Day veterans able to attend these commemorations continues to dwindle. Only 23 veterans were present at this year's ceremony, down from 50 last year. With every passing year, the responsibility to carry forward their stories grows more and more important. Figures like 104-year-old nurse Betty Huffman-Rosevear and 'Papa Jake' Larson have turned to social media to share their experiences with younger generations of Americans, ensuring that the memory of D-Day lives on beyond the pages of history books and transitions to the screen-addicted era. Larson's YouTube channel, Story Time With Papa Jake, recently hit 16 thousand subscribers as of publication. D-Day was not just a gritty American victory; it was a shared triumph achieved by a collection of countries: Britain, Canada, Poland, Norway, and countless others, whose soldiers fought side by side to liberate Europe. With each passing year, that call to keep the memory of D-Day grows more pressing. Now, more than ever, we must honor D-Day not as a distant story but as a reminder of our responsibility to stand up for freedom – and never forget the price paid for it.
