By the dawn's early light

Back, after 22 hours on the road and in the air...with 99 WWII vets and almost 100 more in the inaugural Oklahoma honor flight to DC, touring the WWII memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Covering it in the rain for the OPA and smaller papers,. Also present were Channel 2 and 8 in Tulsa and OETA. No OKC station covered it. And as usual, I was the only print guy.

Up at 2 am. We left the tarmac at the Oklahoma OKC air national guard after 6  am, and returned there at 10:30. Home at 12:30 am. Oldest vet was 94. Vets I knew were George Nigh, Ben Blackstock and Ed Livermore, Sr. Others from all over the state.

So many stories to tell and write. Organized by the patriotic--in deeds, not words--of Midwest City. No vet paid anything, and the trip cost $91,000--including a chartered non-stop flight to and from Baltimore.

You would not believe what I've experienced today, but I'll try to post it soon.