Brookshire’s Heroes Flight/Heroes’ Send-Off: World War II veterans make way to DC
Published 10:10 pm Thursday, October 10, 2013
- Brian Pearson/Staff Heroes in Washington. U. S. Rep. Louie Gohmert speaking to them.
Thomas Shafter pulled off his hat and ran a hand across the spot on his upper forehead where a bullet from a German weapon pierced his skull and exited the back of his head during a battle over a bridge in March 1945.
A day earlier, Shafter had labored to remove the dead and wounded from that bridge while under fire — an act that later would earn him a Bronze Star. He had landed in France in December 1944 as a U.S. Army infantryman and quickly found himself on the front lines.
His regiment advanced to the Rhine River and engaged in the Battle of Remagan three months later. Here, Shafter suffered his devastating wound.
“It went through my helmet and made a small wound going in, but a big one going out,” the 88-year-old Jacksonville resident said as he made a circle with his thumbs and pointer fingers to illustrate the size of an exit wound about the diameter of a baseball. “The surgeons put a plate in my head.”
Stories such as Shafter’s flowed Thursday among the World War II veterans aboard the Dallas-bound bus ferrying them to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as part of the seventh Brookshire’s Heroes’ Flight. The grocery company began the trips in 2010, with 225 vets making the trip.
Thirty veterans, accompanied by a group of volunteers, launched their journey with a star-spangled sendoff at the FRESH by Brookshire’s parking lot, where hundreds waved flags, cheered and voiced their thanks.
“This is a fantastic crowd,” Rick Ellis, Brookshire’s marketing vice president, said to those who had gathered for the sendoff. “We’re going to have a great day going up to Washington, D.C.”
Mayor Barbara Bass thanked the veterans for their service.
“I hope this trip is the most memorable trip you have ever had in your life,” Mayor Bass said. “It’s wonderful that (Brookshire’s) has taken this on as a gift to the community.”
The celebration of the veterans’ service continued every step of the way during the day Thursday.
Patriot Guard members provided a motorcycle escort from FRESH all the way along Toll 49 to Interstate 20, with fellow motorists stopping on the shoulders as a sign of respect.
The bus riders sang “Happy Birthday” to veteran and Tyler resident Doc Fouts, who celebrated his 85th on Thursday and was born the same year that Brookshire’s went into business. Sam Anderson, Brookshire’s community involvement manager, presented Fouts with a cupcake.
Talk on the bus turned to the World War II Museum and whether it would be open for viewing as the federal government shutdown continued after starting Oct. 1.
Shafer said he has seen the memorial before and looked forward to seeing it again. What he looked forward to most, though, was being with his fellow travelers.
“I want to see the vets I served with,” he said.
Jay Spraggins, 87, of Tyler, who served in the U.S. Army during the war, said seeing the memorial was just part of what he was looking forward to.
“I’m looking forward to all of it,” said Spraggins, who saw heavy combat during the Battle of the Bulge, a major German offensive that lasted from December 1944 to January 1945.
A patriotic reception awaited the veterans at DFW, where airport employees and air travelers surrounded them, clapped and thanked them for their military service.
Near the gate, four students from Pebblecreek Montessori School in Allen greeted the men, bringing them water and snacks and expressing appreciation.
“We’re doing some community service for our school,” said Eric Dendinger, 11, a fifth-grader. “They served our country, and this is the least we could do to give back.”
Before takeoff, the pilot and flight attendants recognized the veterans, and two fire trucks created water arches as the aircraft taxied toward the runway.
A thunderous reception awaited at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of people formed a welcome line and loudly cheered as the veterans passed through the gate area. One man welcomed them with patriotic tunes played on a French horn. Some of the men seemed surprised and humbled by the display.
Heroes Flight organizers wasted little time in getting the tour under way, with the bus going straight from the airport to the U.S. Capitol, where U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert took the group on a detailed tour of the building. The vets got a look at the House chamber just moments after its members had exited after another day of no resolution to the ongoing shutdown crisis.
“It’s great to have you here,” Gohmert told the group before diving deep into a talk on the Capitol’s history.
Later, after the vets had boarded the bus to go to their hotel for the night, Gohmert popped his head in the door and assured that there would be a World War II Memorial tour, even if it meant him using scissors, wire cutters or bolt cutters to make that happen.
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