Eastlund, McHatton-Sadler Surprise Lichtenwalter With Honor Flight
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Robert “Coach” Lichtenwalter, 84, was surprised by two funeral homes Thursday morning. Eastlund Funeral Home and McHatton-Sadler Funeral Home submitted an application to Honor Flight Northeast Indiana for Lichtenwalter to travel to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II Memorial. The funeral homes also donated $1,000 to Honor Flight. John Sadler said the funeral homes decided to honor Lichtenwalter this way “because he has a long history in the community. Lichtenwalter’s daughter, Judy Kinsey, said he was born in 1926 and became a member of Baker Youth Clubs in 1936. In 1950, he was asked to run the spring break program. Lichtenwalter took over as director in 1963 until 1993. A coach and teacher, Lichtenwalter has always been a member of American Legion Post 49. He was in the Honor Guard for a long time, according to Sadler. According to Bob Myer, Honor Flight Northeast Indiana vice president, Honor Flight is a group of volunteers who organize trips for World War II veterans to travel to D.C. to see war memorials. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, the northeast chapter is taking 80 WWII veterans on its fifth flight June 21. Lichtenwalter will travel to Washington in the fall as the flights are based on the order that applications are received, and the June 21 flight is already full. The flights are made possible by private donations. Myers said several residents of Kosciusko County make the Honor Flights each trip. The last flight, there were five veterans from North Webster alone, he said. The Fort Wayne hub of Honor Flight gets veterans from South Bend, Indianapolis and Brazil, Ind. It’s the only Honor Flight in Indiana. There are two or three in Ohio, and Chicago has a huge hub, Myers said. The cost for a flight is $60,000, most of that expense for Honor Flight is for the airplane. Myers said the June 21 flight will land at Dulles, an international airport outside of Washington, D.C. Three charter buses will pick up the group. The first stop will be the WWII Memorial where they will spend about two hours. From there, the group will see the memorials for Vietnam, Korea, Iwo Jima, Navy and Air Force. At 4:30 p.m., they will travel to Arlington National Cemetery for the 5 p.m. changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They should return to Fort Wayne by 8 or 9 p.m. The Northeast Chapter of Honor Flight has been providing flights since 2008. Last year, they flew 107 veterans. The whole Honor Flight program started in 2004 in Springfield, Ohio, by retired Capt. Earl Morris.In May 2004, the WWII Memorial opened and Morris saw a need to provide a trip for the veterans to see it. The national office is in Springfield, but there are more than 93 Honor Flights in the country. For the June 21st trip, 72 guardians, paying their own way, also will travel with the veterans to provide support. Some guardians have been on more than one flight, and some have not missed a trip since it began in 2008. For more information on the Honor Flights, call the office at 260-633-0049.
