6 Buses Of WWII Vets Get Day Of Honor — The flags hung, today, June 15, from arches of fire truck ladders on interstate overpasses from Springfield, Pa. to Washington D.C. were to honor a group of World War II veterans as was, in a way, the evening snarl on Sproul Road in front of Saint Kevin’s Church.
About 150 elderly veterans and a matching number of guardians were treated to a special day by Honor Flight Philadelphia and Boy Scout Joseph Blaisse of Troop 315 in Newtown Square, who had taken on getting a bus of veterans for an Eagle Scout project.
He succeeded.
Honor Flight is a national non-profit organization founded in 2005 to give aging or terminally ill veterans a day of honor in Washington D.C. The Philadelphia hub was started in 2011 by Springfield resident Andrew Schiavello. This was its sixth trip.
The trip left and returned to Saint Kevin’s escorted in the a.m. by police and escorted home in the evening by motorcyclists from Warrior’s Watch. Upon leaving the buses they were greeted by Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders, the Eagles Swoop, the Phillie Phantic, and the Chick-fil-A mascot. They walked between rows of well-wishers who numbered in the hundreds down a a red carpet to the church hall where they were treated to a delicious banquet of homemade food and a floor show featuring the Manhattan Dolls.
Mike, the caterer, manged to give the church hall with bleachers and sports banners, an ambiance that would be the envy of most restaurants.
The Springfield Press and the Delaware County Daily Times had reporters and photographers on the scene as did most of the local TV stations.
The Delaware County Patriots had many in attendance for the greeting and at least one member as a guardian.
A special thanks to Saint Kevin’s as the guardians’ cars filled the church lot causing forcing many of those attending its popular 4 p.m. Saturday mass to park in the street. No complaints were heard, albeit many of the parishioners expressed support for the event.
It was a great day for our veterans, all of whom, deserved the praise and accolades bestowed upon them.