"Tuesday morning, more than 100 local World War II veterans will take off on a whirlwind trip that will bring them face-to-face with the World War II Memorial in Washington DC."
See Video
New veteran "honored" to help old veterans get once in a lifetime opportunity:
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Tuesday morning, more than 100 local World War II veterans will take off on a whirlwind trip that will bring them face-to-face with the World War II Memorial in Washington DC. Another group of folks will be joining them to help move them from place to place -- a group who says they're honored to do that job.
Five-and-a-half months into his six month tour of Iraq, Marine Bryan Chambers' unit was hit by an IED.
"It was a pretty big IED," says Chambers. "It flipped a 14 ton vehicle, ripped a three ton engine and threw it like 40 yards."
One soldier in the vehicle with him was killed and he lost part of his leg. But the man who spent the better part of a year overcoming that kind of adversity says he was troubled to hear about an issue facing another group of veterans.
"They've never even seen their memorial," says Chambers. "Some of them just came back home and they've stayed in the Grand Junction area for their whole life since coming back from war."
Chambers first heard about Honor Flight from his sister. After he learned what it was the group did, he decided he wanted to help World War II veterans see the symbol of their country's appreciation before they're gone for good.
"They were on the beaches of Normandy -- that's on a whole different level," says Chambers. "That's just my way of thanking them for it."
Chambers says he's excited to be part of this experience. And as a new vet himself, he hopes he gets just as much out of seeing the World War II memorial as the World War II vets do.
"You see it when you're by yourself and it's just one those 'yeah, that's kind of cool things,'" says Chambers. "But when you actually see that with someone who was there I think it's that much better."
No comments:
Post a Comment