Queen City Honor Flight.

Get ready for some MACtion
ZooMass84
Senior
Posts: 1307
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:46 pm

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by ZooMass84 » Thu Oct 20, 2022 5:11 pm

capezona wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 4:29 pm
vanmeter wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 3:43 pm Congrats to you Berkman. You earned this special day.

In addition appreciate all other posters who served their country. I was a 6 year National Guardsman. The Army was happy once my 6 year term was over.
Ha! You and me both. I think the Army was very happy when all the draftees matriculated out.
I was in YD also..........HHC head quarters company

ZooMass84
Senior
Posts: 1307
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:46 pm

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by ZooMass84 » Thu Oct 20, 2022 5:14 pm

Berkman wrote: Sun Oct 16, 2022 2:04 pm Glad we have an open date on Sat so I won't miss any game.

I will be going on the Queen City Honor Flight from Charlotte to Washington DC for the day. Honor flights originate from many cities throughout the country and there will be 10 flights going to DC on Sat. They have been running them for several years from Charlotte and I applied to go on one several years ago. They were suspended during COVID and are restarting now. There were several openings on the flight and I applied and got accepted.

So on Sat morning we get to the airport between 6 - 6:30 AM and go to a special check in area. There we are greeted by an honor guard and go to a special table set up for us to check in. There we are given a colored lanyard to match the bus we will go on, 4 buses there for us, and we get a golf style shirt with the Queen City Logo for identification. We have special TSA gate to go through to get to our flight gate. They will have a light breakfast for us and we take off around 7 AM on a chartered flight carrying 180 vets and guardians for those who need them. Also will have wheel chairs for those who need them. When we get to DC we will board the buses and go to Arlington to witness the changing of the guard. We will have a police escort for the whole day. After Arlington we will visit the various military sites there. We will have a lunch served mid day.

We will finish up by going to the Pentagon. We will have a supper of chicken pot pies before we fly back to Charlotte arriving around 7:30 PM. We will have water and drinks and snacks for us on the buses.

All this is at NO charge to us. I was considered a Cold War Veteran being in from July 55 to July 59. From 1948 to 1990 the period was known as the cold war period. The Korean War and Vietnam wars we so designated for their period vets.

We have a coffee shop, Richards Coffee Shop and Veterans Museum in downtown Moresvile NC.On Thursday we have a free coffee meeting and usually have 130 vets there. The museum has displays from the Revolutionary War to Afghanistan and we are full to the brim with stuff. If any of you are in the Mooresville area I would highly recommend that you come to visit us. We are open from 8 -1 every day except Sun. On Sat there are a bunch of vet musicians that play for several hours.
so awesome. My dad was in WW2 (battle of the Rhineland) and my grandfather in WW1 (stateside) at Ft. Drum.

User avatar
Berkman
Hall of Fame
Posts: 6885
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:38 pm
Location: Mooresville, NC
Contact:

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by Berkman » Thu Oct 20, 2022 5:41 pm

All 4 of my brothers served. My oldest brother was captured in the Battle of The Bulge and was a German POW for 8 months. When Dresden was firebombed there was so much confusion that a lot of the guys escaped and got away as my brother did. The 2 of my brothers were on Destroyer Escorts in the Solomon Islands. My youngest brother was with the blimps in Lakehurst NJ.

Floyd
Hall of Fame
Posts: 9559
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2003 8:50 am
Location: Not where I should be

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by Floyd » Thu Oct 20, 2022 6:47 pm

Thank you all who have served. Berkman, enjoy your day(s) this weekend
Time to Win

inthescoop
Hall of Fame
Posts: 4925
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 7:40 pm
Location: NYC

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by inthescoop » Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:01 am

Berkman, thank you for your service.

My family lived in Poland, an hour away from the German border when Nazi Germany invaded the country. My great grandfather was part of the Polish resistance movement (Polish Home Army) and was freedom fighter in WW2. They also hid many children and families during the war. Unfortunately, he was killed by Nazis in front of the family for his actions.

It is because of folks like you and your brothers that helped bring peace into the world. The generational pain and suffering will forever be there, but we shall focus on the gallantry, courage, and valor.

Here's to hoping for peace and no more wars. Have a safe flight and enjoy. You deserve it.

User avatar
Berkman
Hall of Fame
Posts: 6885
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:38 pm
Location: Mooresville, NC
Contact:

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by Berkman » Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:16 am

My parents came from Poland separately. I have more relatives in Poland, about 45, than I have in the states. My first visit to them was in 1990 and I have made 6 other visits there. I took my son 2 times and my daughter also 2 times, one time was for my aunts 100 birthday celebration. Her brother lived to 95. They live in a town called Wielopole and others nearby in Adamies. They hid downed fliers at times during WW2. They are not that far from Austerlitz. I asked them how the Nazis were allowed to have that camp there and they told me that they cut down all the trees within 10 miles. They had ditches and dogs to cover the area. Staying with a cousin in Nova Huta, a suburb of Krakow I got to travel all over Poland visiting many places.

inthescoop
Hall of Fame
Posts: 4925
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 7:40 pm
Location: NYC

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by inthescoop » Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:38 am

^Wow. Thank you for sharing Berkman. truly! I hope you still get to enjoy some kielbasa, pierogis, and borscht from time to time.

I remember reading that there used to be a lovely Polish community in Western Massachusetts in the Chicopee area. Is that still a thing or things have changed over the decades?

User avatar
Berkman
Hall of Fame
Posts: 6885
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:38 pm
Location: Mooresville, NC
Contact:

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by Berkman » Fri Oct 21, 2022 2:20 pm

It still is. I lived in the Berkshires in Adams. Pittsfield had a pretty good sized Polish community also. At St Stanislaus church in Adams they are getting ready for their Christmas Bazaar. I worked it for many many years and was co-chair for the making of the Polish food for a couple of years. We used to make around 5,000 pirogi 2,000 golumpki and a couple large kettles of kapusta. In fact my wife just got a picture sent to her of a large table of pierogi they were making for this years bazaar that is usually held the Sat before Thanksgiving.

Jack
Senior
Posts: 1556
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:14 pm

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by Jack » Fri Oct 21, 2022 5:48 pm

Nothing wrong with a nice Christmas Golumpki !!! :D

capezona
Hall of Fame
Posts: 2801
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 9:59 pm
Location: Peoria, AZ and Dennisport, MA

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by capezona » Fri Oct 21, 2022 10:37 pm

This is fascinating stuff, Berkman. Thanks for sharing.

User avatar
Berkman
Hall of Fame
Posts: 6885
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:38 pm
Location: Mooresville, NC
Contact:

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by Berkman » Sun Oct 23, 2022 9:39 am

Back from the honor flight so this is a recap. Fantastic but very tiring for me.

We had an honor guard waiting for us at the airport and a group of people to wish us well and thank us for our service. There was a special TSA gate for us. We had muffins, juice and coffee for us at the gate compliments of the USO. The plane inside was decorated for us with red and blue stars on the overhead compartments and several banners across the aisle.

When we arrived at Regan airport there were a lot of well wishers lining the aisle to welcome us to the airport. Buses took us to Arlington Cemetery for the changing of the guard. They do it every half hour in the summer but only every hour at this time of the year. What a ceremony. In addition to the changing of the guard there was a wreath ceremony and the playing of taps. The whole thing took a half hour. Every time the guard came to the end of his march/walk he would click his heals to salute the audience.

From there we went to the WW II Memorial with a huge group of greators. There we took pictures with the few WW II vets and then with the rest of us. Onward to the Iowa Jima memorial. The guide told us to notice the memorial as we went counter clockwise around it. There is an allusion that appears to show the solders actually raising the flag. There we had box lunches provided by Arby's that were either turkey or roast beef, a bag of chips and a cookie. We were told that the owner of Arby's went on the first honor flight and noticed the lack of food so he decided to make food available, first for free and now for just the cost of the material. Drinks were also available.

From there we went to the Lincoln memorial which included the Korean memorial and the Viet Nam Memorial The names on the Viet Nam memorial the names are listed in the order they were killed so there is an app for people looking for names could find their location.the guy I was with found 6 of the 13 friend he lost there.

From there we drove past the Pentagon memorial on our way back to the airport. At the airport we were just went through the TSA without having to take stuff off. There we were served a box lunch of a chicken pot pie, a bag of chips and a cookie and a drink.

When we got back to Charlotte they played God Bless America as we taxied to the gate. There was a huge group of people lining the aisle to welcome us back home. Also when we were taxing to leave Charlotte and our arrival at Reagan airport there were fire truck that sprayed our plane in our honor.

I will say this much. If any of you that read this and are veterans and there is a Honor Flight from your area I would strongly recommend you do your best to get on it.

Jack
Senior
Posts: 1556
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:14 pm

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by Jack » Sun Oct 23, 2022 10:19 am

Thank you for your service Berkman and thank you for that interesting recap of a memorable day. The Korean War Memorial is my personal favorite, do you have a favorite ? God Bless America ! :D

User avatar
Berkman
Hall of Fame
Posts: 6885
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:38 pm
Location: Mooresville, NC
Contact:

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by Berkman » Sun Oct 23, 2022 11:04 am

Not really. They were all great in their individual ways.

kd68
Junior
Posts: 544
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2003 9:05 pm

Re: Queen City Honor Flight.

Post by kd68 » Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:13 am

Congratulations and thanks to all who served
Subvet. 68-74

Post Reply