Flashback - 2019

Tom Rice – What Honor Flight has done for me

By Holly Shaffner

When you ask 97-year-old WWII paratrooper Tom Rice what Honor Flight has done for him, he will tell you the organization has changed his life. Tom went on his “Tour of Honor” in October 2012. The call to go on the trip could not have been timelier. Tom had just lost his wife, he wasn’t taking care of himself, he wasn’t eating and he was sitting in his recliner all day with nothing to do. At 91 years old, he had lost his motivation until his Honor Flight angel, Donna Hester, called him to tell him about the trip.

Honor Flight San Diego states the trip sometimes provides closure for the veterans from their wartime experience and sometimes the veterans make new friends, but for Tom this trip was much more than that.

Tom was just 10 years old when his 6 year old brother, Joseph, died of double pneumonia. This was in 1931 and he and his family were living in the Norfolk, Virginia area. Fast forward to 2012 when Tom is on his Honor Flight and meets a Naval Officer named Captain Steven Shepard. Captain “Shep” Shepard was part of the Honor Flight family often being a guardian for a WWII veteran or arranging to have a color guard at the hotel dinner or giving a presentation to the Honor Flight attendees about a significant event in Naval history.

Tom and Shep met on the Saturday night of the trip. Naturally, Tom asked where he was stationed and Shep told him Norfolk. Tom told him that he had once lived in that area and that his brother was buried in a graveyard in Oceanview but he wasn’t sure where. Shep enlisted the help of his wife, Sandra, who had friends in the local library system. After some research, Sandra and her friends found the location of Tom’s brother. There was no tombstone for Joseph, so the Shepard’s paced off the steps where he should have been laid to rest and then placed flowers on Joseph’s grave. This meant so much to Tom since he had not been able to visit the grave since 1931. This coming fall Tom is returning to Virginia and is planning to visit the cemetery. Because of the Shepard’s heartfelt act of kindness, Tom will be able to locate his brother’s grave. This is just one of the many stories of how Honor Flight San Diego has changed Tom life. Tom & Mike at 101st Airborne Memorial

Tom was able to recount his feelings and what he saw on the 2012 trip. One of the special parts of the trip was when Honor Flight stopped the buses in Arlington National Cemetery and let Tom and his guardian off to visit the 101st Airborne Memorial.

This stop was also special for Tom’s guardian, U.S. Army active duty solider Michael McClure. Mike was assigned to be Tom’s “battle buddy” for the weekend and the Honor Flight leadership knew what they were doing when they assigned the two together. Mike was also a paratrooper and had been assigned to the 101st Airborne Division from 1996-1997.

Mike had this to say, “We talked about our airborne training experiences (his vastly different than mine), about our experiences in combat (his vastly different than mine), but we shared a bond that only men who have served in combat can share. I was honored to escort Tom on his Tour of Honor and believe that my life is better for having done it and for getting to know Tom and others like him.” the San Diego airport by hundreds of people waving American Flags, hugging and cheering for them. That is the homecoming we wanted for Tom and that is the way we wanted to thank him for his service.

Tom is now married to Brenda and when asked how Honor Flight has helped Tom, she said, “What you are giving them is priceless. You are getting them out of their recliners and exposing them to opportunities to get out and talk to younger generations and to share their stories.”

Tom has done that and so much more. Because of his relationship with Honor Flight, Tom has been invited talk to children in classrooms, to adults at tournaments, to participate in parades and Spirit of `45 events, to visit the National WWII Museum in New Orleans and to visit Pearl Harbor.

Honor Flight has reinvigorated this WWII hero and that’s what they can do for the special veteran in your life too!

The two men came home from the trip and just like every Honor Flight homecoming, they were greeted at To submit a veteran application to go on the trip (at no cost to the veteran), go to: www.honorflightsandiego.org.