The federal government shutdown could lead to a lot of disappointed veterans. Old Glory Honor Flight is planning to take a plane filled with World War Two and Korean War vets to the nation’s Capitol, in about two weeks, to see their memorials. Drew MacDonald is the group’s president. He said those memorials are closed during the shutdown, and he really hopes they reopen soon.
“We are going. We will be in Washington D.C. and my hopes are that we won’t have any access issues. But if we do, that would be quite the shame, to have these guys who went to battle for this country . . . to go that far and be blocked at the entrance,” MacDonald said.
He said it will likely be the last chance that most of the veterans will have to see the memorials, and they would be unbelievably disappointed if they’re turned away. “All of these vets are eighty plus years old,” he said. “This is their one and only chance.” The flight is scheduled to leave on October 17th.
The Washington Post reported that after veterans once again breached barricades at the shuttered Word War II Memorial on Wednesday, the National Park Service announced that it would keep the monument open to veterans as a free speech right.
WHBY