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."
One of the really nice things that is done for the Vets that we take on our trips to Washington is the cane that they get prior to leaving. Each year, the Miami Valley Wood Carvers Association has carved canes for the guys so they will have them if needed when they go to DC. They really do a nice job and the Vets really like them. These two pictures are from the May 2010 trip.
Ray (in the far lest in this picture) is one of our guys works with the woodcarvers and takes charge of that aspect. The guys really get a kick out of picking out their own cane. Some of them even personalize theirs. One of the guys from this past trip in September took one of his dog tags and fastened it to the cane. That looked pretty cool and just gave it a personal touch.
When we were done passing them out, we told them to hold the cane up for just a moment. We told them we were taking them to DC and we expected them "to raise a little cane while there." We always get a laugh out of that.
This picture (below) was taken at the WWII Memorial following our ceremony honoring those who fell in battle during the Second World War.
This picture (below) was taken at the Korean War Veterans Memorial following our ceremony there earlier that afternoon.
We had 38 Vets on this trip; 2 from WWII and 36 from the Korean War. Most of them were strangers before going on this trip, maybe knowing one or two of the other guys. What a blessing it was to have them be our guests for this trip.
Our next trip is scheduled for May 20-22, 2011. If you would like some information or would like to make a contribution, please send an email to our committee at mbenn391@gmail.com.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. (Burke)
We just returned from our September 24-26 trip, and really had a great time. There were some tremendous things that took place, and I'll expound on them in subsequent articles. However, the first one I want to present concerns a French lady who was visiting the WWII Memorial. She was looking for a WWII Veteran to meet and talk to. You see, she was about 14 years old or so during the war when American soldiers came thru and liberated their village. The Vet she ran into was Jack Graham, Jr., a WWII Vet who was on our trip. The lady was quite emotional and was just talking and crying all the time. One of her family members translated all of this for the small group gathered around them because she spoke no English. Everyone got the message and it was a very emotional thing for all of the group.
I'm sure this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened there, but it was a first for our group.
As I said, there will be lots of short articles and lots of pictures from this trip coming in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.
And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.
The Committee has been working very hard to pull in enough money to make another Veterans Trip to DC possible. Sometimes we forget that there are others out there working just as hard to help us. For instance, at last night's meeting, three young men (Jarred, Dylan and Carter) came to present to our group the money they earned this summer selling lemonade, popcorn, candy and sunflower seeds at softball games held at the local field. They also kicked in some of their paper money and also hit up some of their relatives so they would have enough to sponsor their grandfather, Tom, a Korean War Veteran, for this upcoming trip.
I was pretty proud of the boys because they had to help make all their products and stuck it out all summer doing this. The boys are all youngsters and we all know the attention span for youngsters isn't all that long. That's what makes this special, and that's why all of the committee members were very proud of them.
The picture shows Jarred (c) and Dylan (r) presenting a jar of money ($355.00) to Roger, our treasurer. Carter was being a shy boy and was over behind his dad, out of the picture. Also, Dylan wasn't red because he was embarrassed, but because he had been in the pool all day.
Don't wait for people to be generous, show them how. Hooah
There's something ominous about rain clouds and the sound of distant thunder at 6:00 in the morning when your group is getting ready to leave on a trip to Washington. For one thing, it's still dark and the spitting rain and clouds don't help.
But the rain only lasted for a short while and we were able to load the buses inside the firehouse, thanks to the Sidney Fire Department and the Shelby County EMA director, Marc Burdiss. That made it much nicer for us, although it was a bit dicey for the school children from the Sidney Middle School who lined the street for our departure.
We've got lots of pictures and I am still going through them to narrow it down to being under a few gigabites. In the mean time, here is a copy of the Proclamation from Mayor Mike Barhorst who welcomed the group and declared May 21-23 as "Honored Veterans to Washington DC Weekend."
I'll buckle down and get the pictures linked to this site so you can see them. If all the smiles on their faces and stories they told were any indication of how well the trip went, the guys had a great time. They all must have told their friends too, because my phone has not stopped ringing since we got back. We are in the process of putting together our September trip and we have almost 50 people lined up so far.
I think the thing that is most rewarding to me about all of this, is that these men and women trust us enough to allow us to take them away from the safety and familiarity of their homes and routines to Washington for 3 days.
There are lots of agencies and people to thank, but a big HOOAH goes to the Vets!
Any questions about this trip or any future ones can be directed to Mike Bennett at: mbenn391@gmail.com.
The courage of a Soldier is almost a contradiction in terms. It is a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die for someone else.
If you scan down through this site, you might think all we do is hang out in stores asking for money. Well, we certainly do a lot of that. But it really is rewarding to have people from every walk of life giving to this cause.
One guy said he didn't have much, but he did give us a $5 bill. I told him it was all those people who gave $5 who were getting us there. We certainly got a number of large checks from some very generous donors, but we also got change and $1s and $5s, $10s and $20s and every bit of it counts up toward sponsoring a Vet to see his/her memorials.
I even had one gentleman sign up to be a volunteer, to give his time. He didn't have money to give us, but did have time. Guess what, we'll take it.
We stood out in front of Wal-Mart last week and when we were finished, we had $1,130 toward the trip.
So far, we have 41 Vets on this trip, and quite a waiting list. We have every motel room at the motel and 2 chartered buses, so this is a lot like moving troops -- like I used to do in the old days. All in all, we have 100 people on this trip. That's a lot! The names and numbers can still change as some people may drop out due to health and others will be added. but this is still a big trip.
Well done, Sidney, Shelby County and surrounding areas.
Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns.~Author Unknown Hooah
I'm sure this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened there, but it was a first for our group. 
I was pretty proud of the boys because they had to help make all their products and stuck it out all summer doing this. The boys are all youngsters and we all know the attention span for youngsters isn't all that long. That's what makes this special, and that's why all of the committee members were very proud of them.
Here is a copy of the "Team Picture" from our last trip. We took this one at the Korean War Memorial. 45 WWII and Korean War Vets made that trip.
If you scan down through this site, you might think all we do is hang out in stores asking for money. Well, we certainly do a lot of that. But it really is rewarding to have people from every walk of life giving to this cause.
So far, we have 41 Vets on this trip, and quite a waiting list. We have every motel room at the motel and 2 chartered buses, so this is a lot like moving troops -- like I used to do in the old days. All in all, we have 100 people on this trip. That's a lot! The names and numbers can still change as some people may drop out due to health and others will be added. but this is still a big trip. 