Military Monday (a day late) Honor Flights

Yes I know it is not Monday but I have a good excuse. Since adopting Lucie (see the post below) on Saturday I have taken her on a few walks. Now let's just say that she is a little leash ignorant and tends to almost take me for a walk. So when I got up Monday morning I could hardly move because I was so sore. So needless to say I spent the day laying on the couch and taking hot showers to relieve the soreness. After a day of Iburprofren and rest I feel a little better. No major muscles are pulled. This is either going to be really good for me or kill me.

So anyway here is the post that I planned to put up on Monday.

Honor Flights is a charity that provides free transportation to World War II veterans that have never been to Washington DC to see the WWII Memorial.  There are flights out of most US major cities several times a month.

The reasoning behind this charity is that based on recent 2008 statistics, we are losing World War II veterans at the rate of approximately 1,000 per day. There are plans in place to eventually be able to provide this service to Korean and Vietman war vets.

The first Honor Flight took place in May of 2005. Six planes flew out of Springfield, Ohio taking twelve World War II veterans on a visit to the memorial in Washington, DC.

Honor Flight's website can be found here. I found out about Honor Flights through the Chicago Tribune. See a video about a recent group of vets from the Chicago are that were able to travel to the nation's capital and see thier memorial.  There a more pictures here.

If you are a vet, give this trip some thought. Afterall it is your memorial and you deserve to see. I did and I was humbled and I am not even a vet. Just a daughter on one and mother of two.

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My Daughter, My Soldier

When my daughter Cinderella came to me shortly after graduating high school and said she was going to join the Army I was only a little surprised. A few years prior as we sat in a high school gym watching her brother LCpl Honda compete in wrestling she turned to me and said, "I am going to do that next year mom." I thought, well ok. Needless to say she made good on her comment and even went on to pin a few boys during her wrestling career.

The day came and she left for boot camp and never looked back. Her reasons for joining were she did not really want to attend college right away because she was concerned about finances and knew she would probably be able to attain a better education after serving with her GI Bill.

Her goals were to do the best job for her country. Now this was pre 9/11 when people were not receiving the accolades for joining and serving that they do today. Not that we were not proud, but I for one was naive thinking the world would remain calm and war was not a possibility in the near future. Boy was I wrong.

Cinderalla says like any other job there are pros and cons. She cites job security, guaranteed paycheck, free health and dental insurance as pros for joining the military. For Cinderella the honor of serving her country was by far the biggest pro. She didn't cite two many cons but did say that nobody likes their job all the time and there were times she had rough days. She said it was tough working long hours on four hours of sleep but understood the job requirements.

Cinderella left the military because she had a young daughter at the time and thought it best to be a full-time mother to her. Would she join again? "In a minute!" she said. But Cinderella has chosen motherhood first. I have to agree with that decision.

Although she would still like to serve she has taken away a lifetime of experiences that a lot of people can't say they have. Cinderella spent three and a half years active duty as an MP attaining the rank of specialist in the US Army and one year as a specialist in the Army National Guard.

Thank you for your service Spec. Cinderella. We are proud of you!

This is my second post at Parent's Zone and was a special request. I was glad to oblige.