Honor Flight vet, guardian prepare for trip
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">HARRISBURG – Two veterans who never met spent time together Wednesday in preparation for a trip to the nation's capital later this month.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Daniel E. Finke, who was discharged as a 1<sup><span style="font-size: small;">st</span></sup> Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, will serve as a guardian for Don Cooper of Harrisburg when Honor Flight of Southern Illinois departs on April 25. Cooper, as previously reported by this newspaper, is a Korean War veteran.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Finke, who served from 1968 to 1971, said it is important for Honor Flight attendees and guardians to meet and spend time together before the trip.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">"We wanted to get to know each other a little bit before we went on a 15-hour trip together," Finke said with a laugh as he, Cooper, and their wives dined at the Burg Cafe in Harrisburg.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The Honor Flight Network is a program that provides veterans with a trip to Washington in order to visit memorials in honor of service men and women.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The April 25 trip is a bit of a whirlwind, departing from Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois in Marion at 6:15 a.m., then touring the World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, U.S. Navy Memorial, U.S. Air Force Memorial, Marine Corps Memorial and concluding with a trip to Arlington National Cemetery and visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before departing for Marion at 8:30 p.m. that same day.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Lunch will be served on a city bus tour.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Finke said Honor Flight assigned him to serve as Cooper's guardian, but some of the veterans on the trip have a friend or family member serving as a guardian for the trip. Delmar Ewell of Harrisburg, who also will make the trip, said longtime family friend Gene Hauptmann plans to serve as his guardian.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Finke said plans for the trip include 55 veterans, an equal number of guardians to help them on the trip, and additional personnel.
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">"Our plane can accommodate 127 people, and it will be a full flight," he said. "We'll have a team of nurses and other people staffing the trip to make sure everything goes all right."
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">A "welcome home" celebration is planned for the veterans' arrival at the airport that evening.