Many World War II Veterans, their friends, and their families met Sunday afternoon at First United Methodist Church in Conroe for the viewing of the video created by Malcomb Pepper a local film producer/director. A large group of Vets traveled to Washington D.C. earlier this year to visit the World War II Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, and the Washington D.C. area.
The flight put together by students in the Montgomery ISD for three trips and are planning two more in May.
These trips are to allow our World War II Veterans to see the Memorial. At this point, the average age of these vets is 85 and the numbers of living World War II Vets are getting smaller daily.
During the trip, several videographers captured the moments of the visit, the reactions, the history, and some war stories.
After 300+ hours of editing, Malcomb Pepper finished his project and delivered it for viewing.
The video was amazing, it didn’t just concentrate on the trip but on the brave men that fought for our freedom. He was able to go to several sources and find video clips from history that coincided with war stories told by the veterans on the trip.
Two of the attendees Clyde Miller and Marcos Barelas discovered that they had actually shared the same foxhole just sixty years ago and had gone their own way until they met again Sunday.
The flights depend heavily on donations and currently, there is approximately a $20,000 shortage for the fifth and last flight.
In addition to the viewing Jack McClanahan, owner of 105 Storage which is located across from the Lake Conroe Dam held a giant garage sale raising close to $3000.
Each Wednesday Jack has opened his heart and business to the World War II Vets who meet there for coffee and doughnuts.
The Patriot Guard was once again on hand to greet the veterans as they arrived at the church. They are also always on hand to escort the veterans from Conroe to Bush Airport on each of the flights.
Copies of the video and a Proclamation from Congressman Kevin Brady were given to each veteran. Additional copies are available for $25 which goes to the Lone Star Honor Flight.
In addition, two Texas A+M Bands will perform for a benefit in Bryan, Texas at 7 p.m. on April 9, 2010. Tickets are $10.
Both copies of the video and tickets to the benefit can be purchased at 105 Storage.
Below is a 20-minute video of Sunday’s event. No matter how much editing you can do for each frame removed is a vet removed. After much consideration, it was decided to leave all the videos of the event so ALL the vets can be seen.
