World War II veterans prepare for Honor Tour

Thirty World War II veterans from Missouri, southern Iowa, northern Arkansas and Southern Illinois will leave the Cape Girardeau National Guard Armory at 5 a.m. Friday for a trip to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Identified by caps embroidered with "WWII veteran" on the front and "Honor Tour" on the back, the veterans are often noticed while in airports and while traveling as tourists. "People applaud them, shake their hands and stop to thank them for serving," said tour leader Rob Callahan of Marble Hill, Mo. It will be the third time Callahan has taken veterans on the tour.

"We have a very short time to get them up there," he said.

Paul Davidson, a resident of the Missouri Veterans Home, went on a 2007 Honor Tour and has since died. Five more 2008 tours are planned — all filled, with waiting lists that grow almost daily.

Missouri Veterans Home activities director Cassie Zeilenga said eight of 50 eligible residents were to take the May 9 trip. They expressed an interest in the trip after Callahan made a presentation to them. Since then, one of the eight has died. The seven remaining veterans, ranging from 81 to 92 years old, have never seen the memorial. Most have a family member to accompany them. A few have been to Washington before, but not for at least 15 years.

Veterans home resident Lawrence Heisserer has seen everything but the World War II memorial. Heisserer said he met his wife at Arlington National Cemetery in 1943. Another resident, Henry Slinkard, has never flown before, but this trip made him change his mind. Resident Tommy Thompson is excited about the trip and plans to wear his uniform.

The National World War II Memorial is a memorial to all Americans that served in the armed forces and on the home front during World War II. Each state is recognized with inscriptions on the memorial, set on a plaza more than 330 feet long and 240 feet wide. It is on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on the former site of the Rainbow Pool at the eastern end of the Reflecting Pool, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

With many World War II veterans around 80 years old, most are seeing the memorial, opened to the public in 2004, for the first time. Some use walkers and wheelchairs, and there are Honor Team staff members and guardians who go along to help the veterans.

"The trip is an emotional roller-coaster. A lot of memories from 60 years ago come back to these guys. There are smiles, tears, outright sobbing and some are reluctant," said Callahan, who is trying to raise funds for more veterans to see the memorial.

The airfare was donated last year but it is not this year. "We desperately need individual and corporate donations," he said. The three-day, two-night tour costs about $850 per veteran.

It includes visits to the World War II Memorial, U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, U.S. Air Force Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center National Air and Space Museum, Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol, White House, Pentagon, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

Callahan, who is retired from the Air Force, is a Gold Club coordinator at First Midwest Bank in Poplar Bluff, Mo. He got the idea from a segment on "Good Morning America." He said his reaction to discovering that someone was already taking veterans to Washington was, "Why didn't I think of that?" He brought the idea up to the First Midwest bank president, who supported the program.

The 2007 trips included public send-offs with appearances by the Jackson mayor and Jackson Municipal Band. Callahan would like to see this happen again at the send-off Friday.

The Cape Girardeau National Guard Color Guard and Replica, a women's trio from Sikeston, Mo., will sing the Andrews Sisters songs, other hits of the '40s and "Bugle Boy of Company C" on Friday. The public is invited to attend.

Donations to help send a World War II veteran see the memorial are accepted at Stoddard County Development Foundation, P.O. Box 625, Bloomfield, Mo., 63825.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133

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