Words are Not
Enough by Alysia English
Photography by Bob Shoreman
W
hen the sun rises on May 6, the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport will be teeming with hundreds of volunteers creating “the best day of their lives” for 95 World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans. A full year in the making, the 2017 Coastal Georgia Honor Flight will abound with smiles, greetings and more than a few emotional moments during this day of recognition and remembrance for area veterans. Mark “Beau” Beaudry, 2017 flight leader, will be front and center, along with 2017 board
president Dave Olender. Beaudry, a big-hearted, enthusiastic Air Force veteran, will assume command of the day’s logistics. For Beaudry, no task is too great or too small to merit total focus. Olender, a Vietnam Army veteran, is a strategic thinker with penetrating eyes that miss nothing and anticipate everything. Together, they have led a committee that has corralled, cajoled, organized, and raised funds for an event requiring as much logistical support as any Armed Forces battalion headed to a military campaign. Additional 2017 Honor Flight board members include: Chandra Kendall, Gary Tjaden, James Vivenzio, Bennie
Williams, Alex Thompson, Beth Martin Lane, Duane Harris, and Alysia English. The board embraces President John F. Kennedy’s words, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” Olender sums it up well: “There are never enough words to say ‘thank you’ to our veterans for their efforts on behalf of our country. Words are not enough, so community volunteers collectively will spend approximately 6,300 hours to create each Honor Flight. That’s roughly equivalent to 3 people working fulltime for a year!”
“The WWII Memorial was completed 59 years after the end of the war and the WWII veterans were dying in large numbers. I took my father, a Battle of the Bulge veteran, to see the memorial during opening weekend. For the first time, I saw the emotions he had about the war because he never previously discussed it. He found it hard to describe the beauty, honor and emotions upon seeing the memorial.” - Chandra Capps Kendall, Board Member 64
ELEGANT ISLAND LIVING
Strong community support and donations have almost doubled the number of veterans who can be recognized, from 2016’s 54 veterans to the 2017 maxed-out flight, which will transport 95 veterans, 60 guardians and a full complement of support personnel. The 2017 Honor Flight costs $1000 per veteran; all contributions are tax-deductible, with one hundred percent directly supporting the event.
