Honor Flight Austin

Friday 10 April

 I woke up “stupid early” (as I call it) in Dallas after two days at the TTPOA (Texas Tactical Police Officer’s Association) Conference to catch a flight back to Austin.

Good thing I work for a company that makes really good backpacks (www.511tactical.com)! Landed in Austin just in time to walk out to my Jeep in the parking garage, drop off my Sandstone Rush 12 and pick up my Black Rush 12 I’d already packed before leaving for Dallas and walk back in.

The Honor Flight Austin crew is so well organized, and with this being their 22^nd flight, the check-in process is smooth as Irish Whiskey. Forty World War II Veterans will take part in this amazing 36-hour journey to DC & back.

Each veteran is assigned a Guardian (sometimes a family member and many times just a Patriot that wants to help take part in this incredible project) and wheelchair upon arrival. After a very quick shuffle thru Security at ABIA, the Veterans, guardians and any family that wants to be a part of the send-off will line up at one end of the long terminal.

Since my awesome crew from ATXN (Austin Texas Network) and I are going along on this trip to document it, I’d brought a great outfit to change into (very camera friendly)… but Allen Bergeron (one of the founders and leaders of Honor Flight Austin and an incredible Patriot that does SO much for our Vets) saw my outfit (5.11 Tactical camo, ripped jeans and cowboy boots) and told me I was not allowed to change. He said I looked very “Texas”. #Compliment! Now naturally I got all kinds of comments from the Veterans about my attire- “Where’s the rest of your jeans?” and  “Oh hon, looks like you got into some scrapes”, etc. But I decided to remain “Texas” for the rest of Friday’s trip……

A few weeks prior to our trip, we’d gone to the home of Mr. Jack Maroney, a WWII Veteran that served on the USS Enterprise (the “Big E”). He has many incredible stories I’m so thrilled to share in our piece. He is also quite a character so, as you can imagine, hilarious comments and conversations are a regular occurrence with him and my abs got a workout for an hour and a half.

Once everyone had arrived, we lined up the wheelchairs and slowly walked down the terminal following the Honor Guard and bagpipers. It is very much like a parade and the passengers at each gate line the hallway and clap and cheer for the Veterans. Some are so moved, they walk out to the Veterans and shake their hands. Needless to say, tears of gratitude are in abundance from both groups.

Mr. Maroney, who I’m following for our documentary, and I held hands and waved to the crowd along with his beautiful wife Joyce, daughter and son. He was very touched by the support of everyone.

Mayor of Austin, Steve Adler and Former Mayor Lee Leffingwell also joined us on this trip, which was a huge treat as they both have military roots. Prior to boarding, they said a few words and then Sport Clips presented a large check to Honor Flight Austin.

After the boarding process, which you can imagine took much longer than normal, we were all given sandwiches and snacks. Jonathan Uhl (good friend and Emmy Award winning Photographer of the Year) and I made a quick bet that Mr. Maroney would give me hell when he saw I hadn’t saved him a seat and was sitting between two other men… Well, we were both on the same side of the bet so we both won ;). Austin Fire Department was on the tarmac with two fire trucks & our Southwest Airlines plane was routed between them as they engaged the big hoses with the Shower of Gratitude crossing over us.


The flight was spent prepping for our segment and the crazy busy 36 hours that lie ahead. Although, I did pause to have the flight attendant “send Jack Maroney a drink from the blonde in the front of the plane” ;) Dan Sheffler (also Emmy Award winning photographer and friend) and Jonathan were rolling their eyes and laughing at me but later Mr. Maroney told me it saved him because none of “the boys in the back ordered a drink until you sent that one to me” ;)  Anytime, Jack!

Once we arrived in DC, we slowly de-planed and were met with a greeting as equally warm as our departure from ABIA. I got to walk with Mr. Maroney and again, he was very moved. At one point he leaned over to me and said, “Its so touching all these people would take the time out of their day to come greet us”.

After loading everyone up onto two large tour buses we headed off to the hotel for the evening. My little crew met a gentleman by the name of Eugene, from our DC affiliate. He is, hands down, one of the nicest gentleman I’ve met and fortunately came along with us on Saturday to help with camera, equipment, logistics and driving. He was awesome and did it with the best attitude and gratitude ever!

The veterans are met with an impressive dinner upon arrival at the hotel. There is a large group of volunteers that live in DC that come and volunteer to escort the veterans for the DC portion of the trip. I was so impressed with one young Marine who was actually on leave (vacation) and was spending his Friday night volunteering for Honor Flight Austin. There were young male and female Marines, a good mixture of civilian patriots and a group of beautiful ladies from DC (that our WWII Veterans just LOVED ;) all there to be guardians for this incredible experience.

After we ate, Mr. Bergeron got up to say a few words and thank many long-time volunteers in attendance and then he did something I was so grateful for- he asked the WWII Veterans to share stories if they like.

We spent the next 45 minutes or so listening to tales from seven decades ago, some hilarious and some heartbreaking.  The Veterans were humble, happy and so thankful for this experience, just like me!

Our crew headed to the hotel bar for another quick production meeting and quick hang out with a Marine friend that lives in DC and some of the Honor Flight team before adjourning to our rooms and getting a little shut eye before the early Reveille.

Alarm goes off, hit snooze, alarm goes off, snooze… and then the loud hotel phone rings (thankfully….) and it’s up and at ‘em. Get camera ready, guzzle three cups of coffee and head downstairs to meet the crew!

If you’ve never been to DC, imagine your town’s city center and then quadruple it and add a lot of monuments scattered around. It’s a pain in the neck getting around that town and to add to the chaos, it was a Saturday and the Cherry Blossom Festival! Yikes. WELL, as I’ve already stated, Honor Flight Austin has their stuff together, so we were escorted around ALL day by police escort. Roll out the red carpet, our Veterans are here! It was so cool (and the Veterans thought so too!)





When we first arrived, we pulled up to the WWII Veterans Memorial. I saw a gentleman in vintage war uniform and asked if I could borrow his helmet. He obliged... and although I probably didn't look it, I felt cool and the Veterans got a laugh.

We snuck off to shoot some standups before meeting back up with the group in the middle of the monument for a quick ceremony. One of the great things about having the veterans in a large group is the impression it makes on passersby and children.

Jack shook hands and kissed babies all day long and it was fun to watch, especially because he so thoroughly enjoyed it.

We spent a good hour walking around the monument and taking pictures and many Veterans were telling stories. I walked over to my favorite quote on the monument that I’ve taken pics of half a dozen times and saw & captured a site I won’t ever forget….

"Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices." -Harry S. Truman

We proceeded to the Vietnam wall and monument and shot a few more stand-ups, periodically running into Veterans from our group, all with huge grins on their faces, before meeting back up with the buses and heading over to Arlington Cemetery.

I remember being 16 years old, visiting Arlington for the first time and it was the coldest I had ever been. I remember my legs were so cold they burned.  I remembered seeing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Kennedy flame and I remember what an impact that made on me as a young teenager.

Well this day was all sunshine and beautiful. We ventured up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and got there just in time for the Changing of the Guard and the Wreath Laying ceremony, which, to our surprise included some WWII Veterans from Austin, Texas!

We pause this blog to mention a dear friend of mine that serves in the Old Guard currently and although I didn’t get to see him that day, please check out his amazing song- Fallen Soldier: (Nathan Fair Fallen Soldier)  #FreedomNation

After Arlington, we went over to the Marine Corps monument, which is a little set off by itself and is so impressive. The monument is large and is the Flag at Iwo Jima. I am thankful I saw this monument after my USMC Boot Camp experience last August (Ashley Kamrath USMC Real Heroes Blog) and hearing the full story of that day from a Retired Marine Colonel that is the historian at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot Museum. I sat for a moment and thought of all of my good Marine friends and family, active-duty, veterans and those that never made it home. Semper Fidelis.

 Our crew got another stand-up in the can and on to the next stop! 

My grandfather was 25 years old when he was killed in a T-33 jet fighter plane crash in Fairbanks, Alaska while serving, so I got an overwhelming sense of pride and a little sad when our next stop was the USAF Monument. It is a beautiful sight and the view from the hill it rests on is great as well, overlooking DC and portions of Arlington. We walked around for a bit, spent a little more time reflecting and then interviewed both current and former Mayors of Austin. Former Mayor Leffingwell, a Vietnam Veteran himself, opened up about his cousin who served in WWII and was killed in action. He was proud and emotional and thankful. Sometimes I feel like I’m not cut out to cover military topics or stories because I’m “too close to the story”- needless to say this was the third time I got choked up on this trip. I usually only cry when Texas loses at Football…..

It was only 2pm and our flight wasn’t until 5:30pm but we were exhausted! When we got back on the road, our trip took a slight detour because we were supposed to go see a few more monuments but there was a lock down at the capitol. We later found out someone had committed suicide on the capitol steps :/, so we stopped by the Pentagon instead and toured the memorial there. I sat and talked to Mr. Maroney for a while outside the bus, and really enjoy his stories and the love he has for his beautiful wife Joyce, his family and his country. I am thankful this trip has allowed our paths to cross.

We headed back to the airport, shuffled thru security and I spent the next hour doing recon missions for beer for some of my new buddies. J We boarded and took off back for Austin.  I want to take a moment to say how instrumental Southwest Airlines is in this process. Getting 40 WWII Veterans on and off planes in a timely manner, etc is no small feat. They are a First Class organization.

Halfway thru the return flight home, the Honor Flight Austin team does "Mail Call" and each Veteran is given a large manila envelope full of letters from their loved ones. It was SO touching. One veteran sitting across the aisle from me shared a letter he got from his great grandson…. BOTH beaming with pride.

Another veteran kept pulling dollar bills out of his letters and he explained to me he always sends a few bucks to his grandkids, so now they’ve done the same for him. Mr. Alexander, sitting right in front of me received over 100 letters in his envelope! I also found out one of the young female Marine Guardians always writes her Veteran a letter too. I was kicking myself for not writing Jack a note but we’re gonna go grab dinner back in Austin so I’ll be sure to make that happen ;)

It was late by the time we landed in Austin (okay, okay, it was only 8pm but I was TIRED). Once everyone is off the plane, they are lined up and in typical Honor Flight Austin style and walked thru a parade of happy flag-waving Patriots, family members and friends. It was a very fun homecoming and I got to wheel Jack out this time. We were met right out of the gate by Ms. Joyce so I snuck her in the parade to walk with us (until I got in trouble- whoops ;) . A few words are spoken at a ceremony at the end and then our Veterans are reunited with their loved ones!

If you’re interested in getting involved with Honor Flight Austin to provide monetary support, want to volunteer as a Guardian, or even know a Veteran interested in going on a trip, visit HonorFlightAustin.org.  There will be Korea Veteran, Vietnam Veteran and Purple Heart Veteran trips as well in the coming years.

When I was interviewing Mr. Maroney the first time, I referred to our World War II Veterans as “the Greatest Generation” and he very quickly stopped me. “Ashley, we aren’t the Greatest Generation,” he said, “Our Greatest Generation was our Founding Fathers.” I will never forget that.

Thank you to all of the men and women who have so courageously raised their hands and been called to serve our great country. And thank you to both of our Greatest Generations. Freedom isn’t Free. Let’s continue to thank, honor and remember our Veterans, including those who never came home.

THE DOCUMENTARY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnexlfGWYc0