Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Honoring Veterans

But his most heartfelt weekend activity took place elsewhere, out of sight of Washington politicos and devoid of any potential for gain or notoriety. It came under a brilliant Saturday-morning sun, when the former Republican presidential candidate, now a bit more frail than most Americans recall him, stepped out of a car and strode to the National World War II Memorial to greet, one by one, 108 fellow World War II veterans who had been flown to Washington from South Carolina to see the monument built in their honor.

To these veterans, 29 of them in wheelchairs and several toting oxygen tanks, Mr. Dole was like a rock star. They gathered around to shake hands, to have their pictures taken with him, to crack a joke about their ages. ...

This is a scene that Mr. Dole quietly repeats week after week. A grass-roots organization, the Honor Flight Network, has sprung up with the sole purpose of flying World War II veterans to Washington so they have a chance, in the autumn of their lives, to see the memorial built to mark The Good War in which they fought.
I was so pleased to see this story on page two of the WSJ this morning. I loved reading about Dole and the veterans having that time together.

Then I did a double take while reading it. Honor Flight is a website that our little company built to the designer's specs while simultaneously adapting to Honor Flight's additions (such as registration data bases and the like). As happens with most websites, of course.

Our time is donated, like that of most people involved with the project, but it was still nice to think that we had a very small part in that story.

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