Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Honor Flight: War memorial brings tears to area veteran

The day started at 4:30 a.m. and didn't end until 2 a.m.

That's a long, exhausting day for an 85-year-old World War II veteran.

But it was one of the most enjoyable days of his life, said Henry "Hank" Eversmann, 85, of Fairview Heights.

"There were a lot of old guys who spent the day wiping their faces," Eversmann said.

Eversmann and about 60 other World War II veterans from around central Illinois spent Wednesday in Washington, D.C., as part of the Central Illinois Honor Flight program. The program is funded by donations to take the veterans to see the World War II Memorial erected in their honor. Veterans are not charged for the trip. Guardians pay their own way.

The vets and their guardians toured the memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and watched the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery. Eversmann's son, Tom Eversmann, served as his guardian. Guardians are responsible for assuring the safety, comfort and enjoyment of the veterans during their trip.

They met at 4:30 a.m. in Edwardsville, where they boarded buses that took them to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in St. Louis. The buses were escorted to the airport by a pair of Illinois State Police cruisers.

Eversmann was drafted in March 1943, fresh from Cathedral High School and working for Armor Packing in East St. Louis. After basic training at Scott Field near Belleville, he was shipped to North Africa with the 36th Infantry Division.

In January 1944, he was at the Battle of Monte Cassino, when German 88mm artillery was killing Allied troops in the valley and using the historic abbey founded by St. Benedict as an observation point.

Eversmann was tasked for two weeks with hauling food and ammo to the front lines through mortar, artillery and machine gun fire. He was awarded the Bronze Star for risking himself so the other soldiers didn't have to come off the line and expose themselves.

"The World War II Memorial was a real tearjerker," Eversmann said, his voice breaking at the memory. "You think of all the guys you left behind and the buddies who died. It was really something."

He pointed at one of thousands of gold stars adorning the memorial.

"Each one of these stars represents 400 boys lost during World War II," he said. "It was very touching, I tell ya. It brings you back to when you were over there and gets you to thinking of your buddies. There were a lot of boys who had their handkerchiefs out that day."

The letter he received from the Central Illinois Honor Flight group informing him of the date and time of his flight warned the daylong trip would be an emotional one.

"It was," he said. "A lot of us were wiping our faces all day."

Eversmann became teary-eyed when he related his experience during the Honor Flight. When their flight landed at the airport in Washington, D.C., the plane taxied between two waiting fire trucks that opened the hoses and sprayed an arc of water over the arriving plane. When they entered the airport, the veterans were greeted by hundreds of people who applauded the veterans as they got off the plane.

"It was really, really wonderful," Eversmann said.

On the flight back home, the veterans had another surprise waiting for them.

"They had a mail call like we used to have in the military," Eversmann said. "Then they handed each one of us an envelope full of thank-you letters."

His envelope contained about 40 individual letters and a couple of stacks of cards handmade by metro-east school children. He couldn't read the letters on the plane, he said, because he knew he would become too emotional over them.

"I think it took about two handkerchiefs to go through them Thursday," Eversmann said. "The little kids wrote these letters -- it's just wonderful."

The return flight landed and the group was taken to Effingham, where the exhausted group of veterans were greeted by another group of well-wishers.

"That whole parking lot was full of people -- at 11 o'clock at night -- I was amazed," Eversmann said. "It was such a wonderful day. It was quite an honor to go on that flight and it is something I'll remember until the day I die."