MENTONE - Raymond Lewis, Mentone, recently made a 600-mile trip to see the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Lewis, a WWII veteran, made the trip with the help of an organization called Honor Flight.
When Lewis was 21, he was drafted into U.S. Army and spent more than three years serving with the 115th Army Engineers in the war's Pacific front. "I didn't have any breaks to come home," he said.
To communicate to his fiance, Grace Rans, now his wife, Lewis wrote letters. "I wrote every day," he said.The Army censored letters to ensure sensitive information did not fall into the hands of enemies, but Lewis and Grace developed a code using names and ages so that Lewis could let Grace know where he was posted as his unit moved from island to island around the Pacific Ocean.
Then, in 1945, just before the end of the war, Lewis was wounded.
"We were camped on an island in the Philippines and a couple of Japanese got close enough to shoot mortar shells at us," he said. "They killed a couple guys in our outfit that day."
One of the mortar shells wounded Lewis and he spent three months in a hospital on a nearby island. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Many men and women like the Lewises made sacrifices during the Great War. To honor their sacrifices, the World War II Memorial was completed in 2004, in Washington, D.C. Most veterans of WWII are reaching their 80s, and with age often comes more difficulty in traveling.
In 2005, Dr. Earl Morse, Springfield, Ohio, decided to do something to help veterans get to the capital and see their memorial. Besides being a physician, Morse also is a private pilot. In 2004, Morse asked one of his patients if he could personally fly him to Washington, D.C., to see the memorial.
That flight planted the seed for the Honor Flight program. In its first year, 2005, the program flew 137 WWII veterans free of charge. Another 300 veterans made the trip in 2006.
Lewis connected with the Honor Flight program through his daughter, Sharon Creviston, and her husband, Gary, of Xenia, Ohio. On Oct. 23, Lewis and 34 other WWII veterans boarded a plane in Dayton, Ohio, at 5 a.m., along with 18 doctors and nurses who volunteered as caregivers for the veterans for the day. The veterans flew to the capital and were taken by bus to the memorial. When the bus arrived, Sen. Robert Dole, 84, a two-time Purple Heart veteran of WWII, was there to meet the veterans and welcome them to the capital.
"He meets every Honor Flight that comes out," said Lewis. "I got to meet him personally."
The memorial has 56 pillars representing U.S. states and territories and the District of Columbia. Lewis said the part that especially caught his attention was the panel with 4,000 gold stars representing those who made the ultimate sacrifice. "Each star represents 100 men who were killed in WWII," Lewis said.
Creviston and her husband and daughter, Rachel, were able to meet Lewis in Washington, D.C., and tour the monument with him.
"The men were treated with dignity at the memorial," Creviston said. "People let the veterans always go first and lots of people were stopping to say, 'Thank you for all you did for us. Thank you for our freedom we have today,'" Creviston said.
After spending time at the World War II Memorial, the veterans also toured the Lincoln, Korean War, Vietnam War and Iwo Jima memorials and were served lunch on the National Mall. Honor Flight provided cameras for the men to take photos. The entire day was completely free of charge for the veterans.
"They treated us royally," Lewis said.
The group arrived back in Dayton, Ohio, around 11 p.m. Lewis said it was a long day, but well worth it. He said, if it weren't for Honor Flight, he hadn't planned on ever going to see his memorial.
"I tell all the veterans I see around here it's worthwhile," Lewis said. "If you ever have the chance, go. Go for sure."
Honor Flight inspired several similar programs in other states. Currently, no program has been started in Indiana.
For more information about Honor Flight, visit www.honorflight.org
