Spirit Saturday: Honor Flight

All the kindergartners helped make this flag: their hand print stripes and thumb prints as the stars.  We gave it OLS student Kyle W's great-grandpa who went on the Greater St. Louis Honor Flight.

Per their website, The Mission of Greater St. Louis Honor Flight is to recognize our veterans – most urgently our World War II veterans – with a day of honor, remembrance and celebration. We do this with a one-day, all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC to visit the World War II Memorial, built to honor their service and sacrifice. The below pictures from their time in Washington DC are courtesy of the Greater St. Louis Honor Flight. 

Upon their return from Washington DC, unbeknownst the veterans, there is a huge Welcome Home party.  Each veterans name was called as they entered the airport terminal.  Family and friends gathered, waving flags, clapping, cheering and singing along to the band.  Below are a few pictures from Kyle's family.

When  Kyle's Great Grandpa, Leo "Bud" was 18 years old, he joined the service in the United Stated Navy Air Corps. He was on active duty from 1944 to 1946. He spent that time stationed in Hawaii and Guam. In Hawaii, he spent most of the time on the beach. There was little work for them to do at this time and, so, they were able to enjoy the islands. In Guam, on the other hand, Bud had little time to do anything other than work. He stated that they barely had time to do their laundry. Most of his time in Guam was spent preparing and flying the jets. He spent a lot of time flying to Japan, specifically Okinawa. After returning from Guam, Bud was in The Navy Reserve for 15 years.

Pictures from the "Welcome Home party."  Left: Family members volunteered to carry flags as part of the event.  Top: Kyle and his Great-Grandpa Bud Rechtien.  Bottom: Kyle and cousins making "Uncle Sam" hats courtesy of the Magic house

Trish from KEZK 102.5 does Random Acts of Kindness. This link is to a video from her experience
. (Awaiting approval to link) 
KEZK Random Acts of Kindness Honor Flight Video