I had such a day on Saturday. I flew to Washington D.C. on the Honor Flight with a bunch of Niagara’s World War II vets who went to see the monument created to honor them.

It was so hot that sweat was streaming into my eyes as I was taking notes and asking questions. The heat was record breaking, but the vets I was traveling with had been through a lot worse than anything the weather and the strenuous journey could throw in their way.  Some were in wheel chairs and some used walkers and canes, but this proud group of gentlemen made their way to the monument and I was lucky enough to be there to witness. Everywhere we went people stood and applauded these guys in their “Honor Flight” shirts. When we arrived at the Baltimore airport the entire terminal lined up and cheered as we got off the plane. It was amazing.

I got involved in Honor Flight the day that an 80-year-old vet named Harry Kuligowski came into the Tonawanda News where my office is located. None of the news reporters had time to see him so I went up to the front desk to find out what he needed. Harry–who I’ve since come to know as a prickly, funny, tough around the edges, soft on the inside, never say die kind of guy–was looking for publicity on his efforts to get the national non-profit Honor Flight organization to come to the Niagara Region and fly WWII vets to the monument for free.  Honor Flight requires that a local non-profit to take the lead so I  made a phone call to my friend Debbie Mellon  over at the Niagara Falls air base. Debbie,  who is a communications expert there, also leads the all volunteer military family support group.  Debbie took on the whole project and pulled off a day that no one who was there will ever forget.  I documented it all in pictures, words and video for the July 6 issue of Niagara Living Magazine.

Couple of little back stories from that adventure: I was amazed to see Senator George Maziarz on the flight. I had heard he was coming but I kept thinking I had misunderstood.  George came as a volunteer “guardian,” one of about thirty who paid their own way to provide assistance to the vets. I have never seen an elected politician, especially one of George’s rank, give up so much of his time and energy for a cause. Usually pols just show up and cut ribbons. George worked as hard as the rest of the guardians, pulling wheel chairs out of the belly of the bus each time we stopped, helping vets move through the day.  Thoroughly impressed me. The other local notable that I was surprised to see was Henry Wojtaszek, chair of the Republican Party in Niagara County. I happened to sit next to Henry on the plane and– having never met him before–was really surprised to find out who he was. When I sat down next to him I immediately pegged him as a nice young college student who was traveling with a relative. (Never assume. You know what they say…)  Anyway, you get the point…he looks young. He’s probably sick of hearing it but he does, even though he’s in his forties. Regardless, I found him to be as thoughtful and open-minded a politician as I have ever met, and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.  I even confided my ideas on how to restore Niagara Falls as the Honeymoon Capital of the world, and he did not make me feel like a crazy person as he listened. Henry, too, was there as a guardian. He had heard about it from George and simply wanted to join the trip to lend a hand. As a “former democrat-former republican-now independent with both liberal and conservative leanings,” I am heartened to know Niagara County’s republicans have a such pols. Good for them. Good for all of us.