Recently two groups of local World War II Veterans were flown to Washington DC, free of charge, to see the WWII Memorial that was dedicated in 2004. These trips were made possible through The Central Illinois Honor Flight program which was started in 2008. Their motto is "Taking Our Heroes to See THEIR Memorial." This donation-based program is doing their best to make sure that as many WWII Veterans as possible get to see the Memorial that was dedicated in their honor and to the memory of those who did not return home. Their first trip to Washington D.C. was on April 22, 2009; their second trip was on June 3. Each Veteran on these trips has had all their expenses paid for by the Honor Flight program. In addition to visiting the WWII Memorial, the Veterans also visited the Iwo Jima, Vietnam War, Korean War, and Lincoln Memorials as well as watching the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

•Following is a list of the 26 Veterans who went on the April 22 trip: Ruth E. Aller of Jacksonville, Warren A. Baker of Louisville, Frederick H. Baumberger of Greenville, Carlos L. Biellier of Vandalia, Albert W. Dasenbrock of Effingham, Oliver W. Emmerich of Wheeler, Ralph H. Emmerich of Wheeler, Mary E. Farris of Dennison, Harold E. Frost of Flora, Charles W. Harris of Effingham, Randall B. Jones of Edgewood, Floyd C. Meseke of Vandalia, Warren H. Muchow of Altamont, Leon A. Mullen of Greenville, Robert N. Poindexter of Atwood, Paul E. Quick of Atwood, Robert L. Quick of Edgewood, Leroy M. See of Salem, Mac Stuart Sexson of Windsor, John D. Sills of Effingham, Joseph W. Spencer of Gays, James B. Tipsword of Beecher City, Leon J. Vemmer of Decatur, Carl D. Wagner of Teutopolis, William L. Wendling of Altamont, and Paul L. Youngblood of Flora.

•Following is a list of the 27 Veterans who went on the June 3 trip: Leslie Allen of Decatur, William Antrim of Shumway, Dorwin Barr of Beecher City, J.R. Bell of St. Elmo, William Brussel, Jr. of Casey, Floyd Buckalew of Sullivan, Donald Carrel of Greenup, Kenneth Chapman of Effingham, Bob Fallstrom of Decatur, Howard Gaston of Windsor, Dwight Hagy of Vandalia, Lawrence Haislar of Pierron, Charles Hess, Sr. of Greenville, John Hoene of Effingham, John Huelskoetter of Effingham, Noel Ikemire of Willow Hill, Thomas Marshall of Effingham, George Meyer of Taylorville, Warren Peters of Effingham, John Rapp of Decatur, Alfred Reed of Shumway, Charles Schroeder of Effingham, Orris Seng of Windsor, Norbert Stumborg of Effingham, James Tate, Jr. of Effingham, Carter Wilkey of Windsor, and Gilbert Wright of St. Elmo.

The all-in-one day trips departed Effingham at 3:00 a.m. and arrived back in Effingham at approximately 10:00 p.m. They flew out of St. Louis Airport and arrived at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. at approximately 9:30 a.m. The Veterans all wore orange shirts and were greeted with enthusiasm and heartfelt thanks wherever they went.
The Veteran I spoke with, Bill Dasenbrock, enjoyed every bit of his memorable trip. A few events stood out for him - one being the tour of the WWII Memorial and especially the young men in military school that had their picture taken with him. The students were all very respectful and had lots of questions for the Veterans. Mr. Dasenbrock also commented on how friendly and thankful everyone was wherever they went along their journey - shaking the Veterans' hands and thanking them for their service to our country. Another event that stood out for Mr. Dasenbrock was the mail call at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Effingham where the Welcome Home Celebration took place at the end of this very special day.
Upon the groups' return, a motorcycle parade led them from Altamont to Effingham where police and fire trucks escorted them to Sacred Heart Church to the cheers and applause of about 300 people gathered to welcome them home.
Future flights for this year are scheduled for July 8, September 16, and October 28. More flights will be made available depending on donations. Their website is: www.centralillinoishonorflight.org.
Donations to help the WWII Veterans of Central Illinois make this memorable trip are very much appreciated and may be sent to: Central Illinois Honor Flight, 712 E. Jefferson Street, Effingham, IL 62401.