Quote:
Originally Posted by wet dog
Good stroy, any publication link from the local rag to the event?
If not, thanks for posting, good to have good news once in awhile.
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There are a few, here is one. They showed footage locally, it was very emotional.
http://posttrib.suntimes.com/5864501...f-my-life.html
WWII vet’s belated homecoming: ‘One of the greatest days of my life’
JERRY DAVICH
jdavich@post-trib.com June 11, 2011 10:12PM
World War II veteran Gilbert Hancock of DeMotte talks with a volunteer as Navy Seaman Apprentice Lillian Collins pushes him in a wheelchair down the parade route during the return of veterans from a Honor Flight to Washington D.C. at Midway Airport Tuesday, June 7, 2011, in Chciago, Ill. | Scott M. Bort~Sun-Times Media
‘Mail Call’
Honor Flight Chicago also organizes a special “Mail Call” gift by collecting hundreds of pieces of mail from the vets’ family, friends, school kids and acquaintances, each piece thanking them for their military service.
Each vet clutched a yellow envelope stuffed with personal thank-you letters as a keepsake souvenir of their special day. Here’s a sampling of those letters:
“There is one thing, however, we forget to thank you for — that is our freedom. Without this freedom, we would be unable to walk our dogs at night, listen to the music of our choice, pray to our God, vote for the best candidate.”
And, “You may not remember me, but I’m the guy you caught in the basement drinking beer with your teenage daughter. Although I was just a young man then, I realize that when you were that age, you were halfway around the world defending our country.”
For more info
On Honor Flight Chicago, to volunteer your time, or to nominate a veteran for a future flight, visit
www.honorflightchicago.org or call 773-227-VETS.
Article Extras
Story Image View Gallery
Updated: June 12, 2011 2:00AM
Rosemary Hancock waited with a black-and-white poster-size photo of her 83-year-old husband, Gilbert Hancock, dressed in his skivvies during his World War II days.
Nearby, curious Cub Scouts waited patiently while clutching tiny American flags. Fresh-faced teenage girls waited with bouquets of flowers and promised kisses. Gray-haired military veterans waited in decorated vests as leathery as their weathered skin.
Hundreds of people from the Chicago area, including from Northwest Indiana, created a patriotic flash mob at Midway International Airport this past Tuesday night — one day after the D-Day anniversary.
Proudly sporting red, white and blue hats, shirts and props, they held handmade posters: “Welcome Home!” “Thank You!” and “We Love Grandpa!” They came to welcome home heroes from a bygone era, but obviously not from a forgotten conflict, World War II.
The crowd came to give belated gratitude to 95 local WWII vets who took part in Honor Flight Chicago, a day-long excursion to Washington, D.C. Honor Flight Chicago was founded in 2008 to recognize WWII vets with a day of honor, remembrance and celebration from a proud and grateful nation.
The monthly flights escort WWII vets, average age 88, to the nation’s capitol for long awaited visits to the World War II Memorial, as well as other war memorials. The flight’s all-expenses-paid mission is to show those vets that America has not forgotten their service and sacrifices, even 65 years later.
Among this latest flight’s list of honored vets was Gil Hancock, a U.S. Air Force plane mechanic from DeMotte who was nominated last Father’s Day by his daughter, Laurie Clippert. The Munster woman joined her mother, her husband, Steve, and their two children, Trevor and Natalie, to welcome home her father.
Gil, who I’ve known for years, will be the first to tell you that he’s no “war hero,” serving Uncle Sam for less than two years at the end of World War II. But he accepted the invitation to honor all the other soldiers who will never make this special flight into history, including his brother who fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
“I’m just grateful to be a part of this,” he told me before he left for Washington, D.C.
‘Heroes have touched down!’
Southwest Airlines flight 1864 was expected to arrive from Dulles International Airport at 8:55 p.m., but guests began arriving at Midway’s baggage claim area hours earlier.
They joined color guards, motorcycle clubs, Boy Scout groups, vets from other wars, and active-duty military personnel, including dozens of sailors in their iconic white uniforms.
Together, they flanked an impromptu parade route that snaked through the baggage claim area. Some even brought lawn chairs for the occasion.
Hurried and harried airport travelers stopped in their tracks to watch the curious commotion. Many asked what was going on. Some even stayed, grabbed a flag, and waited for heroes they have never met, and will probably never see again.
At 8:55 p.m., a color guard of grizzly vets marched through the crowd parading American flags of various sizes. The crowd buzzed in anticipation, as if awaiting celebrity rock stars.
From my balcony vantage point, there wasn’t much of a difference between this homecoming and one that could have taken place immediately after the war ended.
Cell phones were obvious, and digital cameras captured permanent memories, but the patriotic buzz was probably the same. Still, most of this crowd wasn’t born even before the war ended.
One old man quietly explained the meaning of the night’s homecoming to a young boy, whispering to him, “Because freedom isn’t free.”
At 9:06 p.m., a volunteer strolled through the crowd holding a large sign stating, “PLANE HAS LANDED.” The crowd erupted into cheers.
At 9:18 p.m., another volunteer stomped through the crowd yelling, “Ladies and gentlemen, our heroes have touched down!”
At 9:21 p.m., the sound of bagpipes could be heard in the distance playing a collection of patriotic military songs. The crowd joined in to sing “God Bless America.”
Soon after, the elevator doors opened and the first wave of WWII vets invaded the baggage claim area, most being pushed in wheelchairs by young female sailors.
“Here they come!” a volunteer yelled.
One old vet wore his wrinkled sailor’s cap from a bygone era. Many others had decades-old tattoos on their arms and fresh-lipstick kisses on their cheeks. The ones wearing hearing aids didn’t need them to hear the thunderous applause.
“Thank you, sir,” one teenage girl told a visibly awed vet.
“Thank YOU,” the vet replied with a wink.
Along the crowded parade route, one gentleman kissed the hand of a vet. Another woman hugged a vet. Kids clamored to shake the vets’ hands. It was truly a goosebump moment.
One vet saluted the crowd through most of the entire parade route. Another hugged and kissed a few teenage beauty queens. A few shed tears of disbelief.
“Where did all these people come from?” Gil asked me as I caught up to him. “I’m so proud of all these people who showed up tonight. I’m proud to be an American, too.”
Gil’s hand shook while shaking the hands of dozens, possibly hundreds, of crowd members while clutching his cane in the other hand.
He arrived at the airport at 4 a.m. that morning for his flight, after staying in a nearby hotel because his home’s power was knocked out by last Saturday’s storms. Plus, he was recovering from neck surgery two weeks earlier, something he purposely didn’t disclose so he wouldn’t be kept off the flight.
“He looks shell-shocked,” Rosemary told me over all the noise.
Gil’s granddaughter, Natalie, knelt down in front of his wheelchair and said, “Say something for the camera,” as tears rolled down her face.
Gil looked around him at all the fuss and said, “This is one of the greatest days of my life.”
Visit Jerry’s blog at
http://blogs.post-trib.com/davich/, his Facebook, and Twitter at @jdavich