Letter to Editor - Thank You, Honor Flight of the Quad Cities

Thank you Honor Flight of the Quad Cities volunteers with a special “shout out” to the Galva Back Roads Music Festival for funding Flight #52 for Henry and surrounding counties’ veterans to Washington D.C. on Tuesday, April 12th. While the Quad Cities were experiencing cold winds, we had a picture perfect day with temperatures in the mid 70’s and a slight breeze. Jason Bates and his staff did a wonderful job and the trip was everything I expected. This was the first trip to the nation’s capital for some veterans. I had served at the Pentagon 50 years ago so it was a reunion for me of the area and older monuments. The Vietnam Veterans Wall and World War II monuments were new. Highlights are almost too numerous to mention. Besides the monuments, veterans discovered old acquaintances from basic training, common experiences of their service time and unfortunately, the names of forgotten squad members etched in The Wall. The highlights for me were quietly eating supper at the Air Force Monument looking over the Pentagon, watching the traffic go by on I-95, seeing the road sign for Columbia Pike, which was the street we lived on in 1969 and the “welcome home” we received at the Quad City airport.

Again, thank you for your volunteer efforts, the Galva area for being able to raise enough for a Henry County flight, and a wonderful day just like we ordered. I'll add this day to the list of days you never forget.

Dale Kiser

Geneseo

4/18/2022