(L to R) Gil Unger, Oscar Soifer, Irv Zipperstein, Bert Lieberman, and Ray Furst, shown here at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, D.C., were among 44 World War II veterans from the Miami Valley to take part in Honor Flight on June 20

By Renate Frydman, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

Given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of seeing the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. free, and as a group, five members of the Dayton Jewish community said yes.

All of them have been friends for a long time and realized the trip would have even more meaning if they went together.

The group of local World War II veterans included Ray Furst, Bert Lieberman, Oscar Soifer, Gil Unger and Irvin Zipperstein. Each had served in some capacity as a soldier during the war and wanted the chance to see the memorial in Washington firsthand.

The five from Dayton joined 39 others, some in wheelchairs, some with pacemakers and hearing aids and anything else they needed to get through a long day. This Honor Flight began on June 20 at 5 a.m. at Dayton International.

Other Honor Flights the same day came from Wisconsin, California, New York, and Michigan. The first Honor Flight took place only four years ago. The idea was conceived by a physician assistant and retired Air Force captain, Earl Morse, who wanted to honor the veterans he had taken care of for many years.

When he retired from the Air Force in 1998, he went to work in a small clinic in Springfield, Ohio for the Department of Veterans Affairs. In May 2004, the World War II Memorial in Washington was completed and it quickly became the subject of discussion among the World War II vets with whom he spent time.

Asked if they would like to go to visit their memorial, most said they would, but as time passed and they came to the clinic for follow-up visits, they told Morse it wasn’t possible for them, either financially or physically, to make the trip.

That’s when he conceived the idea of a way to get these heroes to Washington to see their memorial.

In addition to being a physician assistant, Morse was also a private pilot and a member of one of the country’s largest aero clubs, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn.

When he proposed the idea of flying some of his veterans to Washington, they were so overwhelmed they cried. He enlisted the aid of other pilots in the club, creating a volunteer program to fly them. However, he made two stipulations: 1. That the veterans pay nothing, 2. That the pilots personally escort the vets around D.C. for the entire day. When he spoke at the aero club, 11 pilots who had never met his patients offered to help.

The first flight was in May, 2005 and by the end of the year, 137 World War II vets had been flown to Washington. By 2006, they began using commercial flights and took 891 vets.

Last year, 11,137 were flown to see their memorial and the goal for this year is 25,000. That would make the grand total of 42,165 veterans (Honor Flight now includes Korean and Vietnam vets).

“This trip is World War II veterans’ ‘last hurrah,’” proclaims Honor Flight literature. “The last time they will be recognized as the conquering victors that literally saved the world…An Honor Flight is simply a small token of our appreciation for everything they have done.”

“The most amazing part of the trip,” said Oscar Soifer, “was the people who came to the airports (here and in Washington) at 5 a.m. and late at night, greeting us and applauding us. ‘Thank you! Thank you,’ they said.” Oscar was a Marine corpsman for 28 months in the Pacific theatre.

Gil Unger added, “they were saying, ‘Thank you for saving the world.’” He was in Gen. Patton’s Army in Europe for more than two years.

Besides the World War II Memorial, the groups make stops at the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Air Force Memorial, and the Korean, Vietnam and Lincoln Memorials.

Bert Lieberman said that this was the first time he saw the Iwo Jima Memorial.  “Also on the trip were three men over 90 and a total of 13 wheelchairs being used,” he said. “It’s  amazing how much support the veterans got. It was unreal.”

Ray Furst was surprised at “the volunteers (called guardians) who pay their own way to go on these trips. They pushed the wheelchairs and were support for anyone who needed help.”

He heard the crowds who came to cheer them say, “Lots of luck. We appreciate what you did for us.” Ray spent 16 months in Japan with the Army Military Police.

Irv Zipperstein, who was in the Army Air Forces for two years during the war, did not go overseas.

He said he made this trip “as much for my two older brothers who have passed on; I felt for them I should go.”

For most of the trip, the five men had a fairly serious demeanor. But Bert did note that, “Ray practiced his maftir (Torah portion) on the plane, for an upcoming Shabbat service. Ray asked Gil to sit next to him while he practiced.”

Bert, who was with the Army engineers for more than two years in Japan and the Philippines, said the crowds meeting them were “Cecil B. De Mille-like. It was unbelievable having all these people thanking us.”

Gil found the World War II memorial itself moving. “It had all the battles I was in. The memories that came back, that is what it did for me. It brought tears.”

They were treated to lunch under a tent near the World War II Memorial and had dinner at an Old Country Buffet. But the moment they all remembered was their homecoming reception in Dayton.

“When we came home one and a half hours late, at about 1:30 a.m.,” Ray said, “over 200 people were waiting for us. A band was playing and there were ROTC kids.”

“The whole day was so impressive,” Oscar said. “When we got back to the Dayton airport, the guardians kept us together in a group. ‘You are going to be surprised,’ they said.

When they finally let us go around the corner, people were singing and the band was playing and people were clapping. They were shaking our hands and saying, ‘Thank you for your service.’”

It brought back another homecoming to Oscar, the time he had been wounded in the Pacific and finally left Grand Lakes Hospital. “I never thought I would come home. But, coming from the hospital, I got the best hug from my Mom. I can still feel it.”

To keep the memories fresh of their day in Washington, each of the vets received a free camera and media card. Each received a CD with images of the day afterward.

Among the persons who met them in Washington was former senator and World War II veteran Bob Dole, his wife, former senator Elizabeth Dole, and Michael Lieberman, Bert’s son, who serves as Washington counsel for the Anti-Defamation League.

The Honor Flight Network is a non-profit and the trips are made possible by public contributions to their fund.

For more information about Honor Flight Network, go to www.honorflight.org.