Central Illinois Honor Flight

The first time I heard about the Central Illinois Honor Flight was at the celebration we had for Braelyn's first birthday.  We asked family members to do something nice for someone else or donate time/money to a good cause.  Braelyn's Uncle Kyle (my brother-in-law) donated money in her name to the Central Illinois Honor Flight organization.  For those who haven't heard about this cause, WW2 Veteran's are flown to Washington D.C. to see the memorials dedicated to the war they fought in.  It's a two day trip to the Nation's Capital, that is of no cost to the Veteran's.  Many WW2 Veteran's have never seen the memorial that was built for them.  This is a wonderful organization that takes great pride in transporting Veteran's to Washington D.C. and helping them to experience the memorial first hand.

A few weeks ago, we found out that Matt's grandfather, Marvin, was asked to be a part of the Central Illinois Honor Flight.  We were so excited that he was going to have this opportunity, as well as blown away that this was a cause that Kyle had donated money to in Braelyn's honor.  How cool is that?  Another awesome thing is that on May 24, 2010 we found out that we were pregnant with Braelyn.  The Honor Flight was set to return to Champaign on May 24.

The road to the airport was lined with 1,000 American Flags

The flight is welcomed home at Willard Airport in Savoy by thousands of people.  People come to recognize and support our Veteran's.  It's such a cool sight to see so many people who take pride in our country.  Since Cole is just a baby, I wasn't able to go welcome home the flight.  But, Matt went, along with his sister and my family was also there.  Matt's grandma and his Great Aunt Love were waiting there too.  I don't think his grandma has been away from his grandpa for two days in a row in a very long time, so she was nervous about him making it home safely and also excited to see him.  Matt's grandparents are in their 90's, and probably about the cutest couple I've ever seen!

I heard the "P" sticker fell off in the wind...  Marvin was a PFC

The flight was scheduled to arrive at 7 p.m.  But after a few hours of waiting around they announced that the plane had some mechanical issues and was delayed leaving Washington D.C.  They said the plane would come in around 10ish.  So Matt and our families decided to wait it out.  But then, they came on again and said that the plane wouldn't leave D.C. until after midnight.  It was chilly and windy outside, so my parents offered for everyone to come back to there house to eat and wait on the plane.  I know that it was a big change in plans for my parents, and Matt and I feel so blessed to have them in our lives because they do nice things for others all the time.  Matt's grandma and Aunt Love would not have been able to wait that long outside, so it was perfect that they could go to my parents and warm up and eat too.  I know that both of our families had a great time talking and waiting.  I'm so glad that they all had that opportunity.  I really wished that I could have been there too...but I had an important job at home taking care of Cole :)

My whole family wearing their Braelyn bracelets

Matt said there was still a decent turn out of people there to greet the plane around 1:30 a.m.  I was disappointed for the Veteran's sake that they could not see the thousands of people who had come out earlier in the evening.  But I am glad that they had some support there to greet them as the de-boarded the plane.  Matt took some video footage of the moment his grandpa got off the plane and it brought tears to my eyes to think that he sacrificed so much for this country and our freedom.  I hope that he knows how much people appreciate him.  It was so sweet to see his grandparents reunited after he got off the plane!

Matt with his Grandma and Great Aunt Love

I couldn't help but to also think about my Grandpa Andy.  He fought in WW2 as well, and would have loved an opportunity to fly out to Washington D.C. to see the monuments.  I wish he was still alive to experience something like this.  My grandpa was in the Navy and he worked on blimps that were flown in the war.  He has some awesome pictures of the blimp hangars.  He was always very proud of the time he served our country.  He shared many stories with us when we were younger and I always loved to hear them.

It is so special to think that Marvin benefited from this once in a lifetime event.  We couldn't be more proud of him and what he's done for our freedom.  I also feel so honored that money was donated to this wonderful cause in Brae's name.  Thanks Kyle!


You can find out more about the Central Illinois Honor Flight here:

http://www.centralillinoishonorflight.org/