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."
Here are some of the pictures of the Vietnam/Vietnam Era Vets from Trip #8. Also included in this picture is our one WWII Vet (Don Pulfer) seated just to the right of the POW/MIA Flag.
You can click your mouse of the pictures shown above to get a larger view of them.
We will have some links posted over on the right-hand side of the blog in a few days showing the various parts of the trip. You can view them, or you will be able to download pictures from the linked sites so you can print them for yourself.
Following a recent car show sponsored by KTH Parts Industries, Inc., a donation of $1,570.00 was made to the Shelby County Vets to DC to sponsor veterans on Trip #8. That trip will be held on September 21-23, 2012. Making the trip to DC this time will be 1 World War II Vet and 36 Vietnam/Vietnam era Vets.
Shown here at the check presentation are (l-r) Mike Bennett, Chairman of the Vets to DC Committee, Art Liming, Plant Manager, KTH, and Larry Goins, car show coordinator for this event. Also instrumental in helping with this event was Andrew Donahoe, KTH Administrative Manager (not shown).
KTH Parts Industries, Inc. has been a tremendous supporter over the past couple of years and their donations have enabled many Vets to see their Memorial.
Here are some of the Team Pictures from the Seventh Shelby County (OH) Veterans Trip to DC held in May 2012. This was a fantastic trip. The weather was great, we didn't encounter any traffic problems, and the Veterans really bonded over the course of the three days.
This is the wreath laying at the Korean War Memorial
This was the group shot taken at the Korean War Memorial. It included both
Korean War Vets and World War II Vets.
This is the group picture taken at the WWII Memorial.
Raising funds for these trips is a hard job, but it was made a lot easier with the help of the Riverside HS Powerlifting team. Their parents' club and the young people came up with a garage sale idea and decided to see how that could help. Their advisors, Scott and Lisa, offered up their garage as the collection point, and began to collect every such thing under the sun. Their cars sat out in the rain for many, many months, but they really collected quite a haul.
the garage sale was held at the Sidney County Fairgrounds and was a huge success. Here are some of the pictures taken that day.
Aside from the items on the tables, there were also refreshments available for those who came. The hot funnel cakes and coffee hit the spot as it was a very cold day.
All in all, this was an excellent project and it went very well. Also, a number of Vets' trips were sponsored by this.
Thanks go to the Riverside Powerlifter and their sppnosrs.
This is the "Team Picture" from the September 2011 Trip to DC. It was an extremely rewarding trip and one on which we probably got closer to the Vets than on any other before. Below are the Vets at the World War II Memorial.
This is a picture of the eight World War II Vets. This was quite a group. There were some very interesting stories here.
These were very special people. What a pleasure to get to know them.
A country grows in history and greatness not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, but also because of the lives they lead afterwards.
Here is a picture of the Vets we took on the May 23-25, 2011 trip, the group's 5th trip for WWII and Korean War Veterans to Washington, DC. These trips are for these Veterans who have not been there before to see their memorials.
This was an excellent trip and the Vets and Caregivers were absolutely great. We heard some good stories, shared good conversation, and got to know some truly great Americans.
You know you're getting older when you notice that more and more history questions happened in your lifetime!
As we get closer to our next trip to Washington (May 20-22), we have received many very generous donations toward the expenses of this venture. Individual donors have written checks to sponsor Vets, with these checks ranging from $1,000.00 to $10.00. They have come from all points on the compass and people from all walks of life. In light of this economy, this is extremely gratifying and appreciated by the Committee. These make us want to have an even more special trip for these Veterans and their Caregivers.
Along those lines, I want to just highlight two special groups who have helped us this year (again).
First, the Kid's Care and Student Council Clubs at Emerson Elementary School in Sidney, with the help and guidance of their teachers, took us under their wings and set out to raise enough money to sponsor one Vet's trip ($355.00). Well, they got so involved in this worthwhile project, they ended up sponsoring 4 Vet's trips!!! These pictures are from the presentation they made to us the other day at their school. These 2nd and 3rd graders will probably not ever know how much they have given these Vets, but we will. And now, YOU will.
In addition to the money they raised, we were also presented with a box of letters the students had written to the Vets. These are used in our "Mail Call" activities during the trip.
2nd and 3rd Graders from Emerson Elementary School.
It just so happens that the nickname for the Emerson School is "The Eagles." How ironic it was that we concluded the assembly with the presentation of a cane to the students for their display case. The canes are carved by the Miami Valley Wood Carvers, Assn. and given to the Vets prior to the trip. The "head" of the cane is carved in the shape of an Eagle.
Jim presents an "Eagle Cane" to the students.
The second group that pitched in was the 2011 Riverside H.S. Powerlifting Team (shown below). This is a group of students from Riverside High School, located in DeGraffe, OH who have spent the better part of this past year collecting scrap metal and selling it, with the proceeds going to us, and to cover some of their expenses for the upcoming "World Meet" for powerlifters of their age group. They qualified for this meet, which is coming up later this Spring, and according to their coach, Mr. Stewart, stand a good chance of placing some of their lifters in the top slots. This would be unprecedented for a school their size.
Click on this picture to see a full size shot.
Just like the Emerson students, they too raised enough to sponsor 4 Vets. That's over $1,400.00, which was also money taken away from their expense fund. That meant they had to work that much harder to cover this donation.
As I said earlier, this is just an example of two groups who saw the value of honoring Veterans and went about making it happen. What a great example these two groups are for other young people.
I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. (Maya Angelou) Hooah
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