Pub. 1 2013 Issue 3

Winter Issue 2013 17 For WWII veterans, visiting the Memorial and experiencing the gratitude of the nation, as well as sharing stories from the war with other veterans of “The Greatest Generation” is life-changing. “I never thought I’d live long enough to see this WWII Memorial,” said veteran Monte Montemarano, 87. Montemarano was drafted into the Army in 1944 and was attached to the 3501 Quartermaster in Collecting, in the Fifth Infantry with the 7th Army in Europe. Montemarano left New York on the Queen Elizabeth, went to Scotland, England, Omaha Beach, France, and Germany and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. He and his wife, Mary, had 2 children. Montemarano attended a flag-raising ceremony on Memorial weekend in 2009, where he met a commander from VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), who invited him to go on the Honor Flight. “When the commander told me the trip to D.C. wouldn’t cost me anything, I didn’t believe him,” said Montemarano. He was then on the next Honor Flight to D.C. on May 6, 2011. “Let me tell you something, I saw 90 year old veterans crying at the memorial, and, yeah, I got a little choked up,” said Montemarano. “I’ll tell you, I was so impressed I couldn’t believe it. That’s when I decided to help fundraising for Honor Flight San Diego. I’ve been on 63 fund- raising events. It’s really great what they are doing for us veterans.” Pearl Harbor survivor, Stuart Hedley, 91, went to Washington, D.C. with Honor Flight in August 2011. “It was the most exciting experience that I’ve ever had. We were treated like kings,”said Hedley.“And it was a delight to meet the man that had the vision of theWWII Memorial, Bob Dole, and his lovely wife.” Hedley enlisted in the United States Navy in 1940 at age 19. He was assigned as a gun pointer on the USS West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor. “I was aboard until December 7, 1941, when she was hit by seven torpedoes. We had to jump overboard and swim to shore,” said Hedley. After Pearl Harbor, Hedley boarded the USS San Francisco and was in 13 major engagements. He later went to gyro school in San Diego and destroyer training in Norfolk, Virginia, and ended up in Japan, fighting in the Battle of Okinawa onboard the USS Massey. “We were on picket duty and we had kamikazes coming at us,” said Hedley. Luckily the Massey was never hit. After WWII ended, Hedley later served in the Korean War and finally retired from the Navy in 1960. He and his wife Wanda had 5 children. On February 15, Honor Flight San Diego held a showing of the Honor Flight movie in conjunction with the Spirit of ‘45 Day National Conference. Honor Flight San Diego also hosted a VIP Reception and Silent Auction with special guest Earl Morris, Founder of Honor Flight Network, with the proceeds being used to send our WWII veterans to the memorial. For those who would like a copy of the Honor Flight movie, it will be available for purchase in the near future. Thank you to all who participated, and it’s not too late to help Honor Flight San Diego sendWWII veterans to the Washington, D.C. Visit www.honorflightsandiego.org and click on the link at the bottom of the home page to donate to Honor Flight San Diego. The next Honor Flight out of San Diego will be May 24-26, 2013 with between 90 and 100 WWII veterans traveling to visit THEIR memorial. Fo r mo re i n f o rma t i on , con t a c t Da ve Smi t h a t 8 5 8 - 4 4 2 - 8 3 3 7 o r dave@honorflightsandiego.org Stu Hedley, Pearl Harbor Survivor Monte Montemarano with Elizabeth Dole