A group of veterans from Albert Lea and Glenville will travel to Washington, D.C., on May 2 to visit the nation’s World War II Memorial.

This one-day trip to the nation’s capital is sponsored by the Southeast Minnesota Honor Flight of Rochester and is the third arranged by this volunteer organization.

World War II veterans from Albert Lea scheduled to make this trip are: Constance Benson, Andrew Dyrdal, Arnold Helgerson (senior), Mervin Rhody, James Doty, Donald Johnson, Glenn L. Doty, Lupe Gasca, Kenneth A. Anderson Robert Hahn, Charles L. Kenis, Theodore Spain, Alfred Love, Robert Peterson and Ethmer Wright.

And me, Ed Shannon.

Glenville American Legion Post 264 is sponsoring World War II veterans Roger Bailey, Harold Knutson and Sparky Gore for this flight.

Also participating in this Honor Flight to serve as guardians are Arnold Helgerson (junior) of Albert Lea and Bob Knutson of Glenville.

The World War II Memorial is near the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. It was dedicated in May 2004, and since that time thousands upon thousands of veterans have visited it. The memorial salutes those who served in the nation’s armed forces six decades earlier.

Many of those veterans have visited this memorial at no cost as part of the Honor Flight program. In fact, a group of veterans from northern Iowa made this special trip on April 18.

The Honor Flight concept was conceived five years ago by Earl Morse, a physician assistant and retired U.S. Air Force captain of Springfield, Ohio.

On April 19 a meeting was held at the New Life Worship Center in Rochester for the approximately 80 World War II veterans and 50 escorts and support personnel from this region making the May 2 trip from the Rochester Airport.

According to information provided by the Southeast Minnesota Honor Flight, the group will visit the World War II, Iwo Jima, Korean War, Lincoln and Vietnam War Memorials. Their departure is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. from Rochester to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The arrival time back in Rochester will be about 10 p.m. the same day.

Veterans from Red Wing, Rochester, Dover, Stewartville, Owatonna, Brownsdale, Chatfield, Goodhue, Wabasha, Zumbrota, Lake City, Kellogg, Le Roy, Mazeppa, Austin, St. Charles, Plainview, Winona, Lewiston, West Concord, Kasson and Lime Springs, Iowa, are also scheduled to be a part of this Honor Flight.

I will share my experiences with readers when I return from the trip.