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World War II veterans take Honor Flight to nation's capitol.
The final Ozarks Honor Flight left the Springfield Branson Regional Airport in the early morning hours of June 6 bearing three Vernon County veterans, their guides and nearly 100 other veterans to Washington D.C.
H.C. Householder, Neale Swan and Fred Layher were taken to the nation's capitol and given personal tours of the World War II Memorial as well as several of the other monuments in the city. All three men served during World War II in different theaters.
Householder, of Milo, was in the U.S. Navy and was present for all the major battles fought in the Philippines, including the sea battle at Leyte Gulf, which is considered the largest naval battle in history. Householder earned six bronze stars during his more than two years in naval battle zones. Householder said that even though the flight left at 2 a.m. and returned at 1 the following morning, the grueling schedule "was well worth it." Householder said the highlight of his trip was learning that one of his close shipmates, Elmo Zumwalt, had actually gone on to become Admiral of the Navy. The veterans also got to meet U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and U.S. Rep. Billy Long of Missouri's 7th District.
Householder and the other vets also visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Iwo Jima Memorial before returning to Springfield and a crowd of 5,000 people waiting at the airport. Householder said he had "never seen a nicer bunch of people" than those who were waiting. He also wanted to thank the Springfield TV station, KY3, for their sponsorship of the program and their representative Jamie Dopp for her "photos, help and friendship" while in Washington, "she was good to everybody," Householder said.
Swan lives in Nevada and said he enjoyed his trip to Washington too. "I thought it was fantastic -- start to finish," he said. Swan earned three bronze stars during his service; he was in the U.S. Army and fought his way through Germany with Gen. George Patton. Swan said he didn't have a favorite of the things they did in the capitol. "All of it was outstanding, it was real exciting to me," he said. He did say he enjoyed the flight; "I'd never been on a large plane," he said.
Swan was also grateful for the people that made the trip possible and that helped during the day. "Each one of us had a guardian," he said, that made sure we were in the right place at the right time. "That was great." Swan said the whole thing was "really a great honor." And he was especially taken with the reception they received when they returned to Springfield. "I've never had a reception like that since I returned home," he said. Swan stayed as part of the occupational forces and did not make it home for almost a year after the war ended. By that time all the fanfare was over. He just came home and got back to the business of living.
Fred Layher, of Walker, was also on the flight. Layher was in the Battle of the Bulge and fought at Normandy during the invasion. His service in five major battles earned him five bronze stars. Layher was unavailable for comment on the Honor Flight at press time.
The Honor Flight program is the brainchild of physician's assistant and retired U.S. Air Force Capt. Earl Morse. He got the idea in 2004 to take a veteran to the capitol and by 2005 he had enlisted the help of several other private pilots who took a dozen veterans free of charge to see the memorials and monuments in Washington. The idea took off and by 2006 all of the transportation was being done by commercial airliner. Tens of thousands of veterans have now made the trip. The Springfield, Mo., program has transported more than 1,300 veterans to the capitol free of charge.