It's a memorable and poignant one day trip for Don Wolford, the chief financial officer of Winston-Salem City Employees Credit Union, which is why the flight from the North Carolina city to Washington is being called the World War II "Flight of Honor."
Wolford, who will be in D.C. to honor his deceased father, a Purple Heart veteran, is among a corps of dedicated local volunteers who are arranging to accompany three World War II veterans to the newly constructed World War II Memorial on the Mall recognizing sacrifices of "the Greatest Generation."
The D.C. trips by aged veterans and their stories have for months been featured on various TV network shows and in this case Wolford said he is making the journey "not so much about my father but about the veterans as a group and they did for us, something that is so valuable to who we are today."
Wolford was selected as part of the Triad Flight of Honor, a series of three trips to the hallowed ground of the memorial. "I'll be responsible for making sure that the veterans assigned to me have a good trip and have all their needs met," he said.
He added that the three men assigned to him are 87, 89 and 90 years old. "We've met face-to-face and they are full-spirited guys," Wolford said of the veterans.
Wolford commented that more than a thousand were on hand in Greensboro to welcome home a flight earlier this month, and in a television segment broadcast on WXII-TV, "there were lots of tears."
