Veteran 11 6 2015

Page 1

35 cents

VOL. 4/ISSUE 1

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Aboard the Honor Flight — one memorable trip

Sound breaking

Mary Kemper & Phil Galdys VETERAN VOICE

mkemper@veteranvoiceweekly.com

(Editor’s note: Army veteran Phil Galdys is director of operations for Veteran Voice and Your Voice News & Views. He was invited to accompany Southeast Florida Honor Flight on its Oct. 24 trip to Washington, D.C. Here, he shares his impressions with Veteran Voice.) By now, everyone knows about the Honor Flights conducted nationwide. They transport World War II veterans — and increasingly veterans from later wars — to Washington, D.C., to visit national war memorials and attend a Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. If you speak to anyone lucky enough to be part of an Honor Flight, they tend to be fairly low-key in their expectations of what it will be like. Afterward, they’re changed forever. Phil Galdys is no exception. Galdys walked Veteran Voice through the whole, jam-packed, emotional day. “I only got about four hours of sleep the night before, waking at 2:30 a.m.,” he said. “I arrived at the (West Palm Beach) airport at 4 a.m.” Throughout the morning a total of 77 veterans and their guardians, volunteers and support staff would arrive to board an early flight to Washington D.C., two of whom were women and nine of

See HONOR page 3

Photo courtesy of Mike Killian Photography The spectators of this year’s Stuart Air Show, held Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 at Witham Field in Stuart, were treated to great weather, clear skies and a U.S. Navy F-18 Hornet, shown here on the verge of breaking the sound barrier during the Saturday performance.

Valiant Air opens its hatches Patrick McCallister STAFF WRITER

pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com

Free just can’t be beat. “Twice a year the Valiant Air Command holds an open house,” Ron Davis, public relations officer, said. “We consider it our gift back to a wonderfully supportive community.” The open house will be on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. There’ll be free admission for all active duty military, veterans and Florida residents. In addition to the nearly 50 planes there’ll be music and more. “We bring in combat piolets who have flown the airplanes we’ve restored,” Davis said.

Piolets who’ll talk to visitors. Additionally, there’ll be a bit more of yesteryear to enjoy. “We have classic car clubs come in and show their cars,” Davis said. The planes won’t just sit on tarmacs looking pretty. There’ll be formation-flight displays during the open house. Or, is that an open hatches? The museum will have food for purchase, along with some food vendors. “Our latest success criteria: we ran out of hamburgers and hotdogs (at the last open house) and had to run out and buy more of both,” Davis said. There’s also going to be an ice cream truck on hand. Yum. But that’s not as

See VALIANT page 7


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