HONOLULU (WHDH) — An honor flight brought 75 Pearl Harbor survivors and World War II veterans to Hawaii to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
The flight, donated by American Airlines, touched down at the Honolulu International Airport, where the veterans and their families were welcomed.
“It was a great flight and everybody was so good to us,” said World War II veteran Ken Allred. “It’s unbelievable. I don’t have the words to say what I want to say. It’s just great.”
U.S. Navy veteran Howard Bender was 19 years old when the attack happened on Dec. 7, 1941. He said he still remembers seeing fellow crew members being rescued from the U.S.S. Oklahoma.
“It was an experience that if I had to do it again, I would do it. Even at my age,” said Bender.
“These are our freedom providers and we can’t take that for granted, what they did here and all those many years ago, we continue to benefit from that,” said actor Gary Sinise, a longtime advocate for military veterans who was also on the flight. “If they would’ve not been able to win that war, we’d all be living in a very different world.”
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