World War ll Veterans who came to see their memorial in Washington DC are honored on arrival at Baltimore Airport

The NC-1 DMAT (North Carolina Disaster Medical Assistance Team) was returning from a training exercise in Frederick, Maryland when we discovered that the plane we were flying back to Charlotte on was also the same plane that was arriving with several World War ll Veterans on board. They were coming to see and to be honored at the World War ll Memorial in Washington DC.

Among the welcoming committee were several military personnel lined up to salute them as they arrived at Gate 20 in the Baltimore terminal. In addition to the official welcoming committee there were also quite a few civilians cued up who waved American flags as they came up the ramp.

I wasn’t able to get all of the pictures of the honored veterans but I’ll share the ones that I did manage to get.

It was really an impressive sight to see the two fire trucks spraying water cannons over the aircraft as it arrived.

Most of them were in wheel chairs, but a couple of the 85 to 95 year-old warhorses preferred to stand up and walk the last few feet.

As they entered the waiting area each one of the veterans would enthusiastically wave to the picture-taking flag-waving and cheering crowd.

We all felt privileged and honored to be there to witness this event and to be able to honor these old soldiers who gave so much so that we can have so much.

I have to admit that I had a teary moment when my thoughts strayed back to my Army buddies from Vietnam who didn’t make it back alive or in one piece with me.