Jumpline magazine February 2025 - Flipbook - Page 25
Honor Flight South Fla- Mission 333
Article By: Karen Chambers
Many years ago, I had the pleasure of working with Captain Gabe Nemeth shortly after he had 昀氀own on an Honor Flight. Since my father was a Marine who served during
the Korean War and one of the Frozen Chosin, so named
for the brutal Battle of Chosin Reservoir in 1950. My father passed away in October 1993. Like many veterans,
I think he did not want to talk about the war, but to honor his memory, I decided I wanted to give something back.
Over the years I’ve thought about doing this many times but
was unable to for one reason or another. I’ve since retired,
came across the Honor Flight Facebook page, and applied
to be a guardian. Shortly after, I learned that Local 1403 was
going to sponsor six guardians and thankfully, I was selected.
I had the honor of escorting a Navy veteran who served during
the Cold War. At 82 years old he was such a pleasure. Our day
went so smoothly, and we were treated like VIPs . More importantly, my sailor was so appreciative. He was a little shy and
somewhat overwhelmed with the homecoming, but he really
enjoyed it. He contacted me later to let me know we were going
to meet up for lunch sometime in the future. The Honor Flight
experience will stay with me forever and I de昀椀nitely recommend
it to everybody.
March 2025 | JUMPLINE Magazine
25
