Roller Derby Gives WWII Vets War Memorial Trip

Many U.S. veterans of World War II who would like to visit the National WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C., are unable to because of the expense or infirmity or both. But a group of volunteers in Alabama is paying for veterans' trips and providing them with help to make the trip possible, according to a story by Rhoda Pickett in the Alabama Press-Register and al.com.

In mid-September, Honor Flight South Alabama will send its second group of veterans on the trip. Pickett writes that this trip will include about 100 vets. The group pays for everything, from travel to food to hotels. The first batch of Alabama veterans visited the memorial in May, and that group included 92 veterans, guardians and caretakers on a chartered airplane.

The Alabama group is just one chapter of Honor Flight, a national nonprofit group dedicated to paying for and coordinating veteran group visits to the memorial.

Mobile Roller Derby is one of the major donors behind the trips, according to Sabrina Morgan-Hurt, who skates under the name "Violet Vengeance" for the all-women team.

"At every one of our games, we donate something to a group that means something to one of the girls," Morgan-Hurt told Pickett. "My dad is in the Patriot Guard (motorcycle group) and I heard him talking about it and I brought it up to the girls and they were all about it."

Dr. Barry Booth, who coordinates the local program, told Pickett this latest group to travel will include 95 veterans and 43 guardians and other support personnel.

Upon returning home, the veterans will receive a welcome-home celebration at the airport. The marching bands from Daphne and Fairhope high schools, Boy Scout troops, cheerleaders and others, including Azalea and Dogwood trail maids, will perform.

"I term it 'the ticker tape parade,'" Booth told Pickett.

Booth said that he has taken in "350 applications from veterans who still want to go on a trip, along with another 150 applications from those who want to be guardians."

Photo courtesy of tarale, via Flickr