To date, 1,004 Vets/Caregivers/Volunteers have taken this trip with us over the past five years (ten trips) to see these Memorials. If you are a WWII or Korean War or Vietnam/Vietnam Era Vet in Shelby County (Ohio), contact us to see how you too can join us on the "Honor Bus."

Sunday, January 31, 2010

First Fund Raising Effort for May trip...

This past weekend we began our fundraising efforts for the May trip. The committee worked Friday from 4-8 p.m. and on Saturday from 11-4. During that time, we passed out approximately 1,500 pamphlets describing the upcoming trip. The flyer outlined eligibility for the WWII and Korean War Vets, the trip itself, and the need for donations to pay to get these men and women there.

The Kroger people were very supportive, providing an indoor space for us, a table, and lots of support from the employees. The photo department of the store took pictures of us and sent them into their corporate office to show them our efforts.

We don't have a count on the money yet, but I think we were in the neighborhood of $1,000 being raised for the weekend. We still have a long way to go, but we are started and had a good response from the people of Sidney who shopped at Krogers that weekend. Times are hard for a lot of people, especially in this county. But as we were passing out the pamphlets, some people would stop and talk to us about the trip, some said their parents went on one of the earlier ones and had such a great time. I remember one guy who took one of the pamphlets, never made eye contact and kept on walking out the door. But I saw him looking at the pamphlet and about five minutes later he came walking back in and put some money in the donation box and talked with one of our guys for a couple of minutes. Those are the kinds of people we met this weekend, and we really appreciate them.


Our pledge to them is that as long as they support these efforts and as long as we don't run out of Vets, we'll keep doing this. We are just about out of WWII Vets. We've taken over 90 so far on these trips. So now we're taking Korean War guys and gals and will eventually make it to Viet Nam Veterans. We'll get there with the help of people like that guy, and the three kids who came up and put a whole handful of change in the box, and the lady who took a donor card when we told her about that aspect of the plan and plans to send in a sponsorship donation.

I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. (William Penn)

Hooah

Monday, January 25, 2010

Some shots from our September '09 trip...

The press releases have made it out now and we are starting to receive applications for the May '10 trip. There have been people asking what it is like to take one of these trips, because they are getting older and have reservations about leaving home, if even just for a weekend.

So, I thought I would put some pictures up that show some of the things from the last trip that have been asked about. At the conclusion of the trip, we put out a CD/DVD for the Vets that contained pretty much all of the pictures our photographer took, as well as those given to us by the Vets. We published a "scrapbook" of sorts for them which included some of these pictures. There were several hundred from which to choose, so this is just a sample.


As you can see, it rained on the day the Vets were in DC, but that didn't dampen their spirits.

They didn't get to place a wreath at the Tombs of the Unknown, but certainly enjoyed that part of the trip, and were probably impressed with
the Guards.


Times like these were the guys just got to gather and shoot the bull were pretty special. There probably were some pretty good stories told there..."just between the guys."

Pictured below (l) is some of the "chow" at one of the dinners. It was pretty good stuff -- much better than anything they ate while in uniform.









Mail Call (r) was a hit for all the Vets and their caregivers. Mail was such a big deal during the war, and it certainly was here too. Students from schools throughout the county wrote letters to them, telling the Vets how thankful they were for their sacrifices. Family members also wrote letters as did the volunteers.

These are just a very small sample of the pictures taken, just a tiny part of the memories that were made. Every one of these Heroes deserved this and so much more.

It is only through the generosity of the citizens of Shelby County and the surrounding areas that trips like these are possible. As long as you continue to support them financially, we will continue to put these trips on the road.

The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all. (Leo Rosten) Our goal is to lets these Vets know that they are appreciated for the difference they made.

Hooah

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Just getting started...

I have had a lot of fun doing a blog of my own for the past two years, but now that I am heavily involved with the Shelby County (Ohio) Vets to D.C. Committee, I thought it would be fun to do a blog on that too.

One of our country's greatest assets, the World War II Veteran, is almost extinct, and when that happens, it will be a real tragedy. Gone will be that stable group of patriots who kept us from losing our freedom to Hitler's insanity. And up until this last decade, these men and women were pretty well ignored and pushed to the background. These were our grand parents, the ones who raised some of us, taught us a lot of our values, either directly or through their children. For the most part, these heroes were content to sit back in the shadows and just get on with their life, hardly ever wanting to step out into the limelight or talk about their experiences. They certainly didn't want to be recognized as heroes; they were content with knowing they did their job.

Well, the mission of the Shelby County (Ohio) Veterans to D.C. is to get these heroes to their nation's capitol to see their monument before they die, to shine some of that limelight on them, and to let them know that people really do care and appreciate what they did for us.

In the future, this blog will feature some/all of the veterans who go on these trips with us. We will publish pictures of them in DC, enroute, and at the dinners. We will publish short articles about them (those who will share with us), and try to highlight activities that might pertain to upcoming trips.

For the present time, and as long as the economy and generosity of the people of Shelby County and surrounding areas allow, we will continue to plan for two trips per year, one in the spring (May) and another in the fall (September). These times work out well with the hotels there, the bus line we use and the tourist crush. We would like to think the weather would be better then, but it rained on our last trip this past September. Everyone had a super time though.

Look for our committee members and volunteers out at commercial establishments in the upcoming months, passing out information pamphlets, taking donations, and just getting our message out there to anyone who knows a WWII Vet who has not yet been to see their memorial.

The most imposing force that reverberates through man's history is the beating of a patriot's heart.

HOOAH