Honor Flight honored in the Oval office
Earl Morse receives medal in D.C.
Last Edited: Friday, 12 Dec 2008, 12:06 PM EST
Created On: Friday, 12 Dec 2008, 12:06 PM EST
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - The Springfield man who started the program that takes veterans to war memorials in our nation's capitol was honored by President Bush.
Earl Morse received the 2008 Presidential Citizen's Medal Tuesday in the Oval office.
Morse started Honor Flight with just six small planes and a few volunteers. Now the program has spread to 31 states and is taking up to 800 veterans a week to the war memorials in Washington D.C.
And Morse says he's not done yet.
"That memorial is not yours, not mine, it's theirs. They earned the right to see it," said Morse. "In another five to seven years it will be a moot point. These World War II veterans will be gone."
The Presidential Citizen's Medal was established in 1969 to honor those who have performed exceptional service for our country.
Only 100 people have received the award.
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Earl Morse is on hell of a man, I know it means everything to these WW2 veterans to be able to see the monument in person that was built to honor them and without this man and the groups he inspired and the trips he created, most of these veterans would have never seen it in person, just pictures of it.
My step father is a WW2 era Army Air Corp member he served in the 8th Air Force, one of the bomber groups that bombed Germany in 1943 and 1944, he was in the same air group as the famous Memphis Belle, he was a radio operator who was awarded the DFC for landing the B-29 in England after the pilot and co-pilot had been killed by flak on one of the missions.He died before the monument was completed, but I know her would have made the trip to see it, if he hadn't.
I SALUTE all of the people who make the Honor Flight program work and a special SALUTE to Earl Morse
Friday, December 12, 2008
Honor Flight honored in the Oval office
