Flight of Honor

EAST COUNTY — Ninety-year-old ElRoy York’s dream has finally come true.

On Saturday, June 9, 66 years after serving his country in World War II, the East County resident visited the national memorial that honors him and the 16 million other men and women who served their country during the conflict.

“I’ve never experienced anything so amazing,” said York, who served in the U.S. Army from Jan. 19, 1943, to March 16, 1946. “I’m speechless when it comes to it. It brought tears to my eyes several times.”

And the tears still haven’t stopped coming.

As York sat comfortably in the home of Lakewood Ranch Rotary Club members Denise and Jerry Hearn, who invited York on the trip after meeting him at Publix, York’s eyes brimmed with tears as he clapped his hand over his heart and thanked them, yet again, for a chance to make his dream of visiting the National World War II Memorial come true.

York and 54 other World War II veterans from throughout Southwest Florida took a one-day trip to the memorial, thanks to Southwest Florida Honor Flight and Rotary International District 6960, which sponsored the trip for veterans.

Veterans, who each were paired with a guardian, boarded a plane early Saturday morning and soon arrived in Washington, D.C., where they were greeted with cheers, clapping and the waving of American flags.

“People would leave the bars and restaurants (in the airport (to cheer for us),” said Jerry Hearn, who went as a guardian. “They didn’t just clap, they yelled.”

It was the veterans’ first visit to the memorial, which opened to the public in April 2004. Flanked by the Washington Monument to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west, the memorial features an oval pool with fountains. Each end of the pool is met with a row of stone pillars — each pillar representing a state in the U.S. The curved Freedom Wall displays hundreds of handmade stars, which honor the more than 400,000 lives lost during the war.

“I was so amazed,” York said. “My wife and I wanted to go see it (when it opened), but she had a heart condition. We didn’t go.”

York said he was so excited about the trip he couldn’t sleep the night before he left, finally deciding to get out of bed at 3:30 a.m. to shave, shower and make other preparations for an early-morning departure. He remained wide-eyed until he got home in the early morning hours of June 10, making sure to call his daughter, Rebecca Kohne, with details, even though it was well past midnight.

“It brought back so many memories,” he said, noting how trip organizers surprised veterans with “military-issued” K-rations and letters of thanks from local children. “(During the war) I expected mail from my wife every day. She’d put a lipstick kiss on the letter before she sent it.”

Denise Hearn, who completes her yearlong stint as Rotary district governor this month, selected the Honor Flight project as District 6960’s district-wide project after learning about Honor Flight’s mission on television.

“(These veterans) had not seen their memorial because 26 years passed before they were even recognized,” Denise Hearn said. “What an opportunity for us to focus on their service, for their dedication and commitment.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

By the numbers
55 — Number of World War II veterans taken to the National World War II Memorial June 9.
500 — In dollars, the cost of the trip per person
2004 — The year in which the National World War II Memorial opened to the public
400,000 — Approximate number of U.S. soldiers who lost their lives during the World War II conflict.