9-18-13 —    They manned anti-aircraft guns at Pearl Harbor, slogged ashore underdevastating fire at Normandy and fought their way inch-by-inch up Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, then modestly returned home to resume 

their civilian lives as farmers and teachers.

    Today, veterans fortunate enough to have survived World War II's carnage are in their 80s or 90s.

    Many will never get a chance to see the memorial their grateful nation erected in 2004 to honor them-unless folks like us help.

      That's why South Kentucky RECC and Kentucky's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives have joined with the Bluegrass Chapter of the Honor Flight Network for the third year to sponsor an Honor Flight for these veterans on Saturday, September 21, 2013.

      South Kentucky RECC and Kentucky's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives are flying 25 World War II vets from Louisville to Washington, D.C., to visit the World War II Memorial.

    South Kentucky RECC's special guests will be Bernell Turner, 87, from Casey County, who served in the Army, and Robert Williams, 90, from Wayne County, who served in the Navy and witnessed the 

detonation of the first atomic bomb blast over Hiroshima.

      Volunteers representing SKRECC and the other co-ops will accompany the vets as guardians, to ease their travel and assist them in any way possible.

      "The veterans we have sponsored the past two years have said it was one of the greatest days of their lives. These brave men and women risked their lives and endured untold suffering on our behalf, 

so we could enjoy the freedoms we often take for granted," said Allen 

Anderson, South Kentucky RECC CEO. "We felt like this trip is the 

least we could do as a way of saying 'thank you.'"

      The World War II Memorial pays tribute to the 16 million who 

served in the United States Armed Forces during the war, the 400,000-

plus who died and all who supported the war effort on the home front. 

The memorial is flanked by the Washington Monument to the east and 

the Lincoln Memorial to the west.

      While in Washington, the veterans also will visit other U.S. war 

memorials and be greeted by various government officials. They will 

be transported around the city on chartered buses.

The Honor Flight sponsored by Kentucky's Touchstone Energy 

Cooperatives is part of a larger national network that has 106 hubs, 

or chapters, in 38 states. The inaugural Honor Flight took place in 

May 2005, when six small planes flew out of Springfield, Ohio, taking 

12 veterans. The network was conceived by Earl Morse, a physician 

assistant and retired Air Force captain, who wanted to honor the 

veterans he had taken care of.

      In May 2008, Southwest Airlines stepped up by donating thousands 

of tickets, and was named the network's official commercial carrier. 

The flight sponsored by South Kentucky RECC and Kentucky's Touchstone 

Energy Cooperatives will use Southwest as its carrier.

      For more information, contact Joy Bullock at South Kentucky RECC 

at 606-678-4121 or 800-264-5112 or visit their Web site at 

www.honorflightbluegrass.org .

    As Will Rogers said, "We can't all be heroes. Some of us have to 

stand on the curb and clap as they go by." That's what we're doing 

when we pay tribute to these veterans.