After having to cancel two earlier Flights, on Nov. 4, 2009 I participated in the third one. It was a busy 36 hours with very little sleep, but truly an unforgetable experience for 330 "ancient ones" from WW II. We registered at the Airport Holiday Inn in Des Moines the afternoon of the 3rd. There would be 11 buses, color coded, with 30 Vets to a bus plus several support people. I was assigned to the Silver bus. At 5:00 that evening there was a dinner for Vets and wives at the HyVee Corp. complex in W.D.M.

At 2:30 AM on the 4th there was a complimentary breakfast for us. Each bus was assigned an area . About 4:00 we started loading the buses to take us to the plane. At 5:00 we loaded the 747 for a 6:30 take off. Landed at Dulles Airport about 10:00, and once again loaded onto buses to start a day of sightseeing at several Memorials significant to the Military History of our country.

First stop was the WW II Memorial where we were supposed to spend and hour an half, but for some reason we only had an hour. Then on to the Iwo Jima Memorial. From there it was Arlington Nat'l. Cemetery. We got there in time to watch the 4:00 changing of the guard. Then on to the Korean Memorial and from there it was walking distance to the Viet Nam Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. By this time it had become overcast and was getting on the dark side. The light was not conducive to good photographs, but the Nikon D40 did pretty well. I did not go in the Lincoln Memorial, but did get a twilight shot of the building.

Once again we boarded the buses to head back to Dulles and board the 747 for the flight back to Des Moines, There were a lot of sleeping "ancient ones" on the way home. Arrived D.M. about 10:30, back on the buses, and arrived Holiday Inn 11:00 - right on schedule. I will try to add the album of Honor Flight photographs to my site.