Triangle Flight of Honor to Host Second Trip for World War II Veterans

Community invited to welcome home celebration at RDU

RDU Airport, NC – On Thursday, November 4, Triangle Flight of Honor will host its second trip to Washington, D.C. for World War II veterans. More than 100 veterans will depart Raleigh-Durham International Airport at 8:30 a.m. to travel to D.C. to visit the WWII Memorial.

Many of these veterans, now suffering from failing health or living on a fixed income, would find it impossible to complete a trip to the Memorial without the assistance of Triangle Flight of Honor, a local non-profit volunteer organization that has spent the last several months planning and fundraising for the Honor Flights.

Veterans on the second Triangle Flight of Honor include:

Bob Shipley, 98 years old, an Army Air Corp veteran who will lead the group to D.C.
A sailor on the USS Yorktown during the Battle of Midway
Three veterans who landed in Normandy on D-Day
Two brothers one of whom landed at Anzio Beach and the other who was shot down over Germany
A husband and wife team who both served during WWII
Hero's Welcome Celebration
Triangle area residents are invited to join in a welcome home celebration at RDU at 7:30 p.m. in the airport's parking garage atrium. The flight is scheduled to land at approximately 8 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to create banners and posters and to enlarge portraits of loved ones who served in WWII.

Upon their arrival, the veterans, led by bagpiper Robert White, will be greeted by the N.C. National Guard Color Guard. They will then parade through the expected crowd of friends, family and local residents.

For the return of the first Honor Flight on October 7, an estimated 2,000 people gathered at RDU to welcome the veterans home. Event organizers are hoping for a similar turnout for this week's event.

“An important part of the Honor Flight experience is the welcome the veterans receive when they return home,” said George Anderson, flight director for the Triangle Flight of Honor. “It meant so much to the veterans on the first Honor Flight that so many friends and family gathered to thank them for their service to our country.”

For more information on the welcome home event at RDU, visit the airport's event page.

Triangle Flight of Honor
Triangle Flight of Honor receives no government assistance, and Honor Flights throughout the country are 100 percent supported by community donations. The first flight was primarily funded by Triangle area automobile dealers, the Wake County New Automobile and Truck Dealers’ Association, and the leadership of the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association (NCADA), as well as First Citizens Bank, Capitol Broadcasting, Curtis Media and Bank of America.

Due to overwhelming interest in the flights, Triangle Flight of Honor is planning two more Honor Flights in spring 2011. Information can be found at the organization's website.

Triangle Flight of Honor Directors are Robert Glaser of NCADA, Sunny Johnson of Johnson Automotive Center and George Anderson of Sir Walter Chevrolet.

General community questions can be directed by phone (919) 228-TFOH (8364), or email to rglaser@ncada.com or ganderson@sirwalter.com.

Additional information is also available at triangleflightofhonor.com.

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