Regional program honors World War II vets in Washington

Clyde "Alabam" Holder and Kenneth "Dick" Dickerson don't know each other but they plan to get acquainted and share a few war stories this weekend.

Holder and Dickerson will travel to Washington, D.C., on Saturday as part of the Tennessee Valley Honor Flight program. The World War II veterans will tour the World War II and other military memorials in Washington. They will also meet 123 other veterans from throughout north Alabama and southern Tennessee to reminisce about their military service.

"It's going to be fun to meet all those guys and share a few stories," said Holder, a retired educator and director of plant operations for the Florence School System. "A lot of stories soldiers tell tend to get a little bigger every time they tell them."

The Tennessee Valley Honor Flight program has been active since April 2007, with about 1,000 veterans having participated already. Many of them are from the Shoals and other parts of northwest Alabama.

Previous participants rave about the experience. Dickerson and Holder expect the same kind of enjoyment.

While Dickerson plans to laugh a lot as he shares Army stories with the other veterans, he also expects to shed a few tears during the World War II Memorial visit.

"My youngest brother got killed in Italy in World War II," Dickerson said. "I really want to go see the monument because of him. There were four of us boys from my family who went overseas and only three of us came home."

Dickerson, 88, and his wife, Betty, live in Greenhill. Holder, 90, and his wife, Ossie, live in Florence.

Both men have vivid memories of good times and bad from their days in the Army.

Dickerson saw many of his fellow soldiers die in the fighting as the armored unit he was in battled the Germans. "We were in a lot of battles. I know what it takes to keep America free."

Dickerson earned five battle stars and a Silver Star.

As an infantryman in an anti-tank unit in Europe, Holder was in multiple battles and saw many of his friends die. He earned a Bronze Star and Silver Star.

Since the war, Holder has remained friends with William Thomas "Muscles" Johnson, who lives in Georgia. "He and I were the only two in my platoon to come home. The rest of them were 6 feet under," he said.

Joe Fitzgerald, of Huntsville, president of Tennessee Valley Honor Flight, said the program honors World War II veterans from all branches of the military. He said all of the veterans are American heroes.

"We do everything we can to make sure the day they make their honor flight is the best day of their entire life," Fitzgerald said.

Each veteran is assigned a guardian who spends the day with them. A team of doctors and other health care professionals are on every flight in case any medical emergencies arise.

When the veterans return to the Huntsville-Decatur International Airport on Saturday, they will receive a hero's welcome from a crowd of more than 2,000 north Alabama residents, Fitzgerald said. "We want them to know that they are our heroes."

Holder's daughter, Beth Languster, said he is a true hero.

"My daddy is not just a war hero, he's my hero," she said. "He's what I have used as the perfect example of what a parent and an American should be."

Her sister, Jane Almond, said Holder never looked for any sort of handout from the government.

"He never felt like the government owed him anything after the war," Almond said. "He said it was his duty and his privilege to serve his country."

Fitzgerald said veterans in the Shoals have helped make the program a success. He added that the Tennessee Valley Honor Flight is the largest in the country.

"We always have a big group of veterans from the Quad-Cities area on our flights," he said, noting Saturday's flight will include 21 veterans from Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence counties.

With more than 1,200 World War II veterans dying every day in America, Fitzgerald knows the Honor Flight program has a short life.

"In another 5 to 10 years, all the World War II veterans are going to be gone," he said. "It's important we do all we can to honor them now."

Dickerson views the flights a little differently. He said they are a way for veterans to honor their country.

"It lets everyone know we still love America," he said.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746.