Pub. 1 2013 Issue 3

16 San Diego Dealer A s a proud supporter of our military heroes, the New Car Dealers Association® San Diego County (NCDA) is pleased to support charitable and civic organizations such as Honor Flight San Diego. Honor Flight pays for local WWII veterans to visit the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. Honor Flight San Diego was founded in August 2010, after Dave Smith, Co-founder and Chairman of Honor Flight San Diego, travelled as a guardian with his father, Art Smith, who served in the Marines during WWII. “You learn all kinds of things when you take your father to some- thing like that,” said Smith. “It really helped my father to open up, and share some things from the past that he never has before. WorldWar II veterans are known for not talking about their experiences. We call them our humble heroes.” Smith was so impacted by the opportunity to go and honor our WWII heroes that he told the national chairman that he would like to volunteer at the San Diego hub for Honor Flight. Learning that there was no San Diego hub, he set out to create one. With the help of neighbors Jeff Hall and Bill Maheu and several more people, they got the ball rolling. NCDA was the first major donor and was very instru- mental in getting Honor Flight San Diego off the ground. “We have a great urgency to fly all the surviving veterans to D.C. as soon as possible because our time is very limited,” said Smith. Today, there are 116 hubs nationwide and, since it began in 2010, Honor Flight San Diego has taken 315 veterans to the WWII Memorial in Washington D.C. For each veteran, all expenses are paid for the weekend trip, which includes a welcome dinner complete with a color guard and ceremony, a tour of the WWII Memorial as well as the Korean, Vietnam, Lincoln, Iwo Jima and Air Force memorials, a special permission bus tour to Arlington where they witness the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, and an emotion-filled recep- tion at the airport coming home (which has involved up to 700 people congratulating our heroes). Our Nation’s Humble Heroes Commemorating World War II Veterans Honor Flight San Diego Over 16 million Americans served in WorldWar II; 400,000 died in service. It was the most destructive war humankind has ever seen. WWII killed more people, cost more money, destroyed more property, and caused more long-lasting changes in nearly every country than any other war in history. It is estimated that more than 55 million people died. Unfortunately, the WWII Memorial was not completed until 2004 — nearly 60 years after the end of the war. Now, all the surviving WWII veterans are in their 80s and 90s, and Honor Flight is dedicated to taking as many of these men as they can to see the memorial. By Shauna Guerrero