By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Congressman Jo Bonner (R) from Mobile and students from Mobile’s St. Luke’s Episcopal School welcomed South Alabama World War II veterans to Washington, DC, on Wednesday. Ninety South Alabama World War II veterans left Mobile Regional Airport on Honor Flight VII to Washington’s Reagan National Airport. The group of war heroes were driven from the Airport to the National Mall on tour buses. Many of them were seeing the DC monuments and the World War II Memorial for the first time.
Representative Bonner said, “It was an honor for me to personally welcome these members of America’s ‘Greatest Generation’ to the Memorial commemorating their service and sacrifice nearly seven decades ago. It was particularly moving for this visit to occur the day following the 67th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (the official end of World War II in Europe).”
Students from Mobile’s St. Luke’s Episcopal School were present at the World War II Memorial to welcome the aging local veterans. The students held banners, shook the hands of the veterans and thanked them for their years of service.
Rep. Bonner said, “I was pleased to present the visiting veterans with a copy of a tribute I inserted in the Congressional Record and a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol honoring their trip to Washington.”
The South Alabama WWII veterans visited the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery. They returned to the Mobile Regional Airport Wednesday night.
On the morning of December 7, 1941 aircraft from the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked U.S. armed forces based at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The devastating surprise attack plunged the United States into the bloodiest war in human history. Within days Japan’s Axis Allies: Italy and Hitler’s Nazi Germany, declared war on the U.S. In the next four years a generation of young Americans waged a furious war in Africa, in the Pacific, in the Atlantic, in Asia, and in Europe that few could have imagined. 410,000 Americans died in the war and another 672,483 Americans were wounded.
To see Congressman Bonner’s press release and several moving pictures of the event:
http://bonner.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3725&Itemid=62
