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Veteran takes flight of honor

Merokean helps Bellmorite visit WWII memorial

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When Merokean Jean Petter recently drove to Charlie Chapman’s Bellmore home, she felt like she was picking up the president of the United States. She arrived at the house at 5 a.m., flanked by 10 motorcyclists, for the first leg of an exciting journey to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The non-profit Honor Flight Long Island organized the free trip for Chapman and about 25 of his fellow local World War II veterans. Chapman, 89, said the trip brought back memories while allowing him to meet new people.

Chapman was a U.S. Navy aviation radioman, second class, from 1943 to 1946. He first heard about Honor Flight a decade ago. When he recently realized that he hadn’t been to the World War II memorial himself, he signed up for one of its trips.

Honor Flight, a national organization, was founded in 2005, a year after the World War II memorial was dedicated. According to the group’s website, its mission is to honor the “selfless, ordinary people who saved the world” by providing the trips. Over the years, the group has flown more than 120,000 World War II veterans from across the country to Washington.

There are many reasons that World War II veterans might be unable to visit the memorial on their own, according to Honor Flight. Most often they don’t have the plane fare or someone to accompany them. Regional chapters of the national organization do the fundraising, and pair local veterans with “guardians” for their trips to the nation’s capital.

While many guardians are family members, some are strangers who simply want to help. Petter was just such a person. She became fast friends with Chapman after the two were paired together.

Petter’s father, Jim Kenny, began volunteering with Honor Flight years ago and eventually joined the charity’s board. When Petter was active in the Chatterton Elementary School PTA, she organized students to write letters to veterans, but she knew she wanted to be a guardian as well.

She said she had a wonderful time chatting with Chapman while traveling to and visiting Washington. He even sent her flowers afterward, and the two went to dinner with their spouses.

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