HOWARD RIGGS

Glenn Eva, and was climbing his way up the corporate ladder at Safeway, where he eventually worked 40 years in advertising.

He says, bluntly, about his Korean call to duty: “I didn’t like that; but I just had to do it.” Riggs spent 24 months loading ships in the Philippines before finally returning home.

“When I returned to work, I found I’d been replaced by a guy I’d hired,” he says with benign irritation.

He remained in the reserves, and retired from the Navy as a commander in 1962 — in the ensuing years, he and his wife had two children, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

In October, Riggs traveled to Washington, D.C., courtesy of the Honor Flight program, which allows WWII vets to see the WWII memorial. (Read more about Honor Flight on the next page.)

Hear WWII veterans’ war stories, in their own words, on advocatemag.com.

The 2010 Advocate Foundation Charity Ornament is now available at the following retailers:

Brumley Gardens 10540 Church Rd. 214.343.4900 brumleygardens.com

The Store in Lake Highlands 10233 E. Northwest Hwy. 214.553.8850 thestoreinlh.com

Net procceds from the sale of these limited edition hand-painted ornaments benefit neighborhood schools and non-profits.

Learn more about the Advocate Foundation at www.foundation.advocatemag.com

Last month, Honor Flight board members Rhonda Ensey, Donna Sedota and Peggy Marlowe helped send 41 WWII veterans to Washington, D.C.

More than 300 World War II veterans from Dallas are on a waiting list to take an all-expense paid, overnight tour to Washington, D.C., to see the National WWII memorial. A localnonprofitwas founded on the belief that all of them deserve to see it before it’s too late.

Honor Flight of Dallas, based near Lake Highlands, aims to get as many WWII vets as possible to the monument — “their memorial”,organizersemphasize.They offer the opportunity twice a year, in may and october.

Last month, 41 veterans took the trip.

“It is a shame our country waited until a few years ago to build a monument to the greatest generation,” Honor Flight of DallaspresidentRhondaEnseytells a roomful of vets gathered at C.C. Young Retirement Community near White Rock Lake, days before the flight. “You deserve to see it — this trip is a ‘thank you’ for what you did for this country.” The time to show our gratitude to these veterans isrunningout,saysvolunteerRachel Hedstrom,notingthatWWIIvetsare dying at a rate of more than a thousand a day nationwide.

Honor Flight originally was organized in 2004 in Ohio, and Honor Flight of Dallas beganoperatingin2008.Enseyhas recruited several of her family members to help out. Her sister, Suzanne Gentry Flodin, for example, manages publicity; sonBrett Franks and brother Kim Gentry, both medical professionals, are part of the medical team that accompanies veterans on the flight; and sisters Robin and Cindi Gentry also volunteer on the trips.

“I’ve dragged them into it,” Ensey says, “but they all love it as much as I do.”

Ensey says money is the biggest challenge when it comes to getting the veterans to D.C. She and the other volunteers work hard to raise it, sometimes collecting donations outside Walmart. Volunteer Rachel Hedstrom entered the Mrs. Texas International pageant — she’s Mrs. Collin County — just to publicize Honor Flight by using the charity as her pageant platform.

“She’s not a pageant type of person,” Gentry Flodin says. “She did it solely to raise awareness about Honor Flight.”

Hedstromcannotsayenoughabout how much Honor Flight means to her, but she doesn’t have to; she’s wearing her crown, sash and pageant dress at the pre-trip informational meeting where she greets each of the veterans with a warm smile and a handshake.

Volunteers lead the two-day adventure thatincludes a bustourwithprofessional tour guides through D.C. In addition to the WWII memorial, the travelers visit Arlington Cemetery, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans and Korean War Veteransmemorials.They also spend an afternoon at Walter Reed Hospital with wounded Iraq war veterans. Tom Gardner, who took the trip in May, recalls meeting the warriors.

“Someweredaysandhoursoutof Afghanistan and Iraq. What an honor and