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The reception committee lead
by Leslie Matuszak took over
and we felt like we were having
a visit with long lost relatives
and friends. I relaxed, but that
flashback when I came out here
and boarded that rickety old C47
in 1951 still lingered. But by the
time we boarded the huge Boeing
637-800
and I had met and came
under the wing of my escort,
Gary Stamm, a Vietnam vet, I
felt at ease and eager to spend
the day with my brother and our
new friends. My brother’s escort
was a marvelous young man
named Ted Matuszak and we
were rarely separated.
We ended up in the last row of
the massive airplane, but typical
of GI humor I reminded them
that I had never heard of a crash
where the plane backed into
the ground. We laughed a hell
of a lot that day and thanks to
some incredible witty and lively
real soldiers that sat in the seat
in front of us the fun and great
conversation never ceased.
D.C. RECEPTION
After only one hour and 28
minutes we and all 81 vets and
their escorts were on the ground
at the Ronald Reagan Airport.
Two huge fire trucks greeted us
with a salute by firing their water
cannons on and over the airplane.
I had to quip, “I bet that this is
the first time the damn windows
on this plane have ever been
washed.” I was back now as a GI
and I was having fun.
The gathering of all of us and
the entire scene reminded me
of shepherds gathering in their
sheep. I laughed, “Hell, Dave, if
they left us alone most us would
be wandering on the runways.”
The Present
World War II veterans who were on the initial Greater Peoria Honor
Flight contemplate the massive Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, D.C.
