HARLINGEN – A group of World War II veterans departed from Valley International Airport on Friday, en route to being honored for their service and sacrifice in Washington, D.C.
Eleven men and women were staging for their Honor Flight departure at the Texas Travel Information Center at 2021 W. Harrison Ave.
“It’s a special flight only for World War II veterans for Memorial Day flight,” said Honor Flight of the Rio Grand Valley’s Lisa Dwyer. “We’re going to meet in Austin with another group and we’ll be up there for a special presentation.”
Dwyer said this is the first flight to be exclusively for World War II veterans for the Valley organization.
“Usually we have World War II, Korea, and any other veterans we can get to fill up the flight,” she said. “We’re really focusing on World War II because we really want to make sure they get this experience.
“Unfortunately, we’re losing our World War II vets really quickly,” she added. “And they’re our heroes – big-time.”
Garcario Hernandez, 93, was preparing for departure.
“I was up there in the Army,” he said, serving in the Pacific in the Philippines. “And from the Philippines until they dropped the second one, the atomic bomb.”
Fellow veterans Edwin Janowski, 95, served in the U.S. Army in Europe, he said.
He’s also a veteran of Honor Flights, too, he said.
“Oh, I’ve been before.”
The Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created to honor America’s veterans for their service.
It transports veterans at no charge to Washington, D.C., to visit and reflect at their memorials.
To date, Honor Flight has provided the opportunity to see those memorials to more than 100,000 veterans.
