Our one and only Rocky J Squirrel was part of this entourage. Hip-hip-hooray. Here is a short article and a video clip of our great WWII boys who got the chance to go.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section...mp;archive=true

Note from roque riojas:

M-1--Hope this goes to you OK. Part of trip to

D.C. In the video the last one interviewed payed

for the trip for all that went, including meals.

If you have time just log on ,(honor flight),

Stars&Stripes. Rocky

Rocky, What a proud moment for you and all the WW11 VETERANS.

What a shame it wasn't built eariler, so many could have been there with you.

Rocky, What a proud moment for you and all the WW11 VETERANS.

What a shame it wasn't built eariler, so many could have been there with you.

Moose--I was also there for the dedication,May 2004,(SAturday), Monday

morning I was sent to the White House,Met Colin Powell then had a picture

taken with the President and Mrs. Bush. Yes indeed it was a PROUD MOMENT.

Rocky

M-1 I JUST MAILED YOU 4 PICS. TAKEN AT THE WW11 MEMORIAL. YOU

SHOULD GET THEM IN 3 DAYS. DIDN'T COME OUT TOO GOOD BUT I THINK

YOU CAN MAKE THEM OUT. ROCKY

Sigh.... My flash player has gone kaput. It keeps saying I need to update, but I already have. I've restarted and same old same old.

Eddie, picked a fine time to fly the coup.

B

Rocky,

I'm SO glad that you got to the chance to go to the WWII Memorial again!!

Here's an article on the Battle Of The Bulge veteran and mail carrier Roger Durbin who first proposed it:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...5240355/-1/NEWS

Also - from the book "Their Last Battle: The Fight for a National World War II Memorial" by Nicolaus Mills:

"In telling the story of the National World War II Memorial, it is essential... to look at the big picture. At the same time, it is crucial to remember that this big picture is composed of numerous small pictures, often no more than snapshots, and that these small pictures contain a life of their own. Their importance was driven home to me time and again when I did interviews with the men and women working on the National World War II Memorial, but at no point so deeply as on a spring day in 2002 when I walked through a muddy memorial site with Jim McCloskey, the general superintendent for the project. As we got near the spot where the northern arch of the National Memorial was going to be built, McCloskey asked me to turn off my tape recorder, and he began telling me about the WWII veteran who had come by his trailer earlier in the week.

"He wanted me to bury his dog tags in the foundation," McCloskey said. "He was the 3rd vet who asked me this year, and I didn't tell him, like I didn't tell the others, that it was against government rules. I just took the dog tags and said I'd bury them under one of the arches." McCloskey, who had started out in the construction business 40 years earlier as a carpenter's apprentice, was not impressed with his own willingness to break the rules. What impressed him was the significance that the memorial had taken on for the vet, who had spent 2 days driving on his own just to get to Washington.

In succeeding years, when the significance of the National World War II Memorial in American life is debated, I do not imagine those buried dog tags will figure in many discussions. Jim McCloskey, who died of an aneurysm before the Memorial was completed, was not much of a talker, and he did not think it was his business to ask the veteran his name, or find out if the veteran had any family. Still those dog tags at the bottom of the Memorial do speak to us, and what they say about the National World War II Memorial and it's ability to reach across generations does matter..."

m2

m-2 I JUST READ YOUR INPUT ABOVE AND ALSO THE LINK AND I THINK BOTH

ARTICLES ARE VERY,VERY NICE. ABOUT THE DOG TAGS,I QUESS EVERYONE

HAS THEIR OWN FEELINGS ABOUT THEM. I HAVE MINE ON MY KEY CHAIN AND

I TOLD MY SON WHEN MY TIME COMES TO PUT THEM INSIDE THE FOLDED

FLAG AND THAT WAY MY KIDS CAN JUST TOUCH THEM AND WILL AlWAYS

REMEMBER. I LIKED THE SECOND VISIT A LITTLE BETTER THAN THE FIRST,

BECAUSE WE HAD A LITTLE MORE TIME TO SEE AND IT WASN'T CROWDED

LIKE THE TIME OF THE DEDICATION. IT WAS TRULY AN HONOR TO SEE IT

AGAIN. THE MARINE MEMORIAL WAS ALSO GREAT. SEEING THE FLAG RAISING

STATUE SENT CHILLS UP MY SPINE FOR IT WAS A PROUD MOMENT INDEED. ROCKY

M2:

Just read the linked story. Great stuff. Talk about persistence and determination. God bless that man!

Rocky:

So glad the second trip was a success, and you were able to enjoy it so much more this time.

Rocky,

You SHOULD be proud!!!

To quote historian Stephen Ambrose's description of our WWII citizen soldiers:

"They were the sons of democracy and they saved democracy. We owe them a debt that we can never repay."

That says it all, doesn't it?

M1,

Mr Durbin sure was an amazing guy. Just shows what one single person can put into motion with courage & determination. So many of us (and I include myself in this) too often say: "I'm only one person, what can I do?" Thankfully, Mr. Durbin didn't have that attitude!

GOD BLESS US ALL --AND-- GOD BLESS AMERICA ----THE BEAUTIFUL

A FORTUNATE DOGFACE THAT MADE IT BACK-------------