3 Niles Veterans Make Their Honor Flight 6/19/12

 World War II  Army Veterans,  Bill Shipp, Art Shapiro and Don Spitzer  flew from Midway on June 19, 2012 to Washington D.C. as guests of the Honor Flight Chicago program. 


Bill, Art and Don pictured above are participants in the Veterans History Project at the Niles Library.

Many other pictures are available from the online  album for the day

Mr. Spitzer filed the following report which the captured the highlights of a very special day.

 "My Honor Flight Chicago took place on June 19, 2012. My friend Art and I were picked up by a Navy vehicle with 2 Navy persons and a nurse. When we arrived at Midway Airport, we waited for a long time for processing; they served us donuts and coffee. I had a wheelchair and each Vet had a guidance person assigned, even those that did not use a wheelchair. There was a female trio, the Legacy Girls that were singing the Andrew sisters songs for entertainment. We took off at about 7 AM for a flight of about 1 1/2 hours. When we landed at Washington, DC airport, we were met by another guidance person assigned to each and I was pushed in a wheelchair to 3 buses, designated as red, white & blue buses, we were on the way to the WW2 memorial, they served sandwiches for lunch, we passed by the Arlington Cemetery on the way, finally reaching the memorial, & getting a wheelchair, which was carried on the bus, we were at the memorial for about 1 V* hours, we returned to the bus, which now took us to a choice of the Lincoln statue, the Vietnam memorial, or the Korean memorial, I opted for the Lincoln statue, there was time so we went to the Korean exhibit, then we returned to the bus & went to the Air & Space Museum, where I saw & took pictures of the Flying Tiger plane & the plane I trained in, the Stearman open cockpit biplane. There was a narrator for a group of 6 Vets. They then took us back to the Washington airport, where we were given another sandwich for dinner, at the airport, the flight home took about the same amount of time it took us from Midway to Washington.


On the plane we were given snacks & drinks, then they had a Mail Call, where each Vet was given a big envelope, that had letters from most of the gals at the Senior Center & my family & Scott & friends, we landed & the Fire Department gave us a shower of water over the plane & they all stood at attention saluti8ng us, when we reached Midway again, I was amazed, there where at least 2,000 people there for us, my entire family was also there, I really was emotional at that, we were wheeled in a wheelchair down into this crowd & I must have shaken at least 500 hands, there were bikers, girl scouts, boy scouts, & many people, old & young to greet us. The Navy fellows that had taken us to the airport were dismissed & my daughter & husband took me home, they also gave us a big bag of stuff & then what they said were cookies. When I opened it at home, there was an assortment of candies & Girl Scout cookies. What a greeting we got at Midway, I even signed my autograph for a few little girls, what a day.

When we were at the memorial, all the veterans there were sitting in chairs or wheelchairs & there were speeches & singing of the National Anthem & all services were represented with flags & held by uniformed army personnel, also a band performed all the services songs."

Mr. Spitzer receives a heroe's welcome at Midway Aipport upon his return.

Honor Flight Chicago Display

The west display case at the Niles Public Library salutes the Honor Flight Chicago Program. The poster on display welcomed home World War II veteran, Chuck Jacobs, who is also a Niles resident and library employee. Library employee Adrienne Szulczynski served as captain of the library team which met Chuck at Midway Airport upon his return on Wednesday evening, August 10, 2011. Adrienne, who crafted the terrific poster on her own time, is also a Navy veteran. Chuck was the first veteran to be interviewed for the Veterans History Project at the library.



The National AMVETS Silver Helmet is also on display. This "Oscar" of awards to veteran organizations was won by Chicago AMVETS Post #18 for their significant donations to such programs as the Honor Flight. The display of the helmet was made possible by Post Officers William J. Haiman and Richard Hyland.

Charles Jacobs and His Honor Flight

Chuck made his Honor Flight on Wednesday, August 10, catching a dawn flight aboard Southwest Airlines. Upon his 9 p.m. return to Midway Airport, he is pictured with his wife Margaret and sons, Tim, Mark and Chris from left to right. Chuck served as a Pharmacist's Mate, 2nd Class, aboard the USS Sims (DE 154/APD 50) during its service in support of the Okinawa invasion.




Chuck was the first veteran to be interviewed at the Niles Public Library for the Veterans History Project.


Adrienne Szulczynski, pictured on the left, organized the library's welcoming team and crafted the engaging, colorful, tri-fold poster. A Navy veteran herself, she had her picture taken later in the evening with an Officer Zumwalt, a grand nephew of the famous Admiral.

Charles Matz and the Honor Flight

The US Marine and Niles Resident made his Honor Flight on May 11. His granddaughter Carol wrote: "I was fortunate enough to be able to go with him and we had a jam-packed day touring D.C. including the WWII Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial and the Air and Space Museum. He was just amazed throughout the entire day with the outpouring of support from complete strangers just wanting to shake his hand and tell him 'thank you for your service.' It was fantastic to witness!"


He kept telling me, “I knew this was going to be good, but I never expected anything like this!”

A Gunnery Sergeant who saw much combat, Mr Matz is a participant in the Veterans History Project at the Niles Public Library.