2007 Peyton Morgan flies to DC
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Knoxville News Sentinel
24 June 2007
"Taking the ride of their lives: Program funds trips to D.C. for veterans to see WWII memorial," By FRED BROWN, [email protected], 865-342-6427.
Peyton L. Morgan Jr., an electrical engineering student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, graduated just in time to join Gen. George Patton's Third Army on its historic march across France into Belgium.
As a sparkling fresh first lieutenant with a degree in electronics, he was assigned as an Army radar officer.
"It has always been a bit of a mystery to me that the Army actually put me into electronics and radar where I was best qualified to be," said Morgan, 88.
During World War II, he arrived at the Battle of the Bulge days after the fighting finished. Hulks of U.S. equipment littered the field. He still shivers when he recalls the minus 10 degrees at Bastogne, the most intense combat of the Battle of the Bulge.
Morgan is one of about 100 WWII veterans who will be flown free of charge to Washington, D.C., on Oct. 13 to visit the World War II Memorial, as well as other memorials.
The flight is being sponsored by Eddie Mannis' Prestige Cleaners of Knoxville to honor World War II veterans. Seats are available.
The company and its Honor Air Knoxville program will fly veterans from Knox, Anderson and Blount counties. The flight is open to veterans who have not seen the National Mall memorial, which honors the men and women who fought in WWII.
The one-day round-trip covers all expenses on a chartered flight.
Mannis, president of Prestige Cleaners, said the Honor Air program was founded by Earl Morse in central Ohio. In Ohio, it is called Honor Flight. The Honor Flight Network is in 10 states, and more than 1,100 veterans have been flown to see the memorial.
Mannis said his interest in the program was sparked when Jeff Miller, a friend in North Carolina, invited him to take a flight.
"Jeff is in the same business (as Mannis), and he called me six or seven months ago. He was on his fifth flight and knew I would be interested. He asked me to fly with him and the veterans."
Mannis, 47, said the flight "changed my life." He returned home, he said, determined to do something for WWII veterans in the region.
"There were 16 million Americans who served during World War II," he said. "Now there are probably just a little more than 3 million still alive. They are passing away at a rate of from 1,200 to 1,500 a day.
"So it is somewhat urgent that we take as many as possible to see the memorial that was built to thank them for their service and to mourn the 400,000 war dead who will never see it," he said.
Flights include volunteer escorts or travel assistants who pay their own way. The escorts will assist three to four veterans on the flight, Mannis said, helping them as needed through security, getting on and off the plane safely, boarding the buses, getting snacks and meal boxes, and ensuring the veterans have a ride home at the end of the day.
Physician Doug Leahy and three paramedics also will accompany the group on the plane.
The US Airways flight will depart about 9 a.m. from McGee Tyson Airport and land at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va.
Buses will transport the veterans and escorts to the World War II Memorial. The group will tour other monuments in the Washington area, including the armed forces memorials and Arlington National Cemetery. Box lunches will be served.
The flight is scheduled to arrive back at McGee Tyson Airport around 7:30 p.m.
Although Prestige Cleaners is the primary sponsor and coordinator of the project, Mannis said the company welcomes support from individuals and organizations.
Anyone interested in Honor Air can sponsor a veteran by making a $300 donation. Checks should be made out to Honor Air Knoxville and mailed to Honor Air Knoxville, 7536 Taggart Lane, Knoxville, TN 37938. All sponsoring individuals and organizations will be listed in a program distributed to the participating veterans.
Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Marty Coffman will coordinate distribution of information packets to veterans.
To receive an information packet, veterans or their family members should call 865-470-4291. The flight will accommodate l00 veterans. Reservations will be made on a first-come, first-served basis.
If the response exceeds the allotted space, veterans will be placed on a waiting list for a future flight.
"This is just a wonderful thing you are doing," Morgan told Mannis as the two stood one day last week in front of a modern-day tank at the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment armory on Sutherland Avenue.
"I will be 89 years old four days before we leave," Morgan said. "I can't thank you enough.'