It is 12:08am Thursday April 16, 2009. I have just arrived home from dropping my parents off at their home. We had been at the airport. My father went on the Honor Flight/Quad Cities today, he traveled to Washington DC as a guest of the Honor Flight organization. The Patriot Guard, the Marine Moms and I don't know what other organizations were at the airport forming two long lines of flags. The entire waiting area was packed with people who were there to welcome home the veterans from World War II. A 14 month old baby in a fleecy sleeper giggling as she tried to gum the wooden dowel that her miniature flag was stapled to. A young mother corralling her 4 year old son, 6 & 8 year old daughters- all dressed in red, white and blue. A blue-eyed blond 16 year old lounging on the floor of the gift shop propped up against the magazine rack engrossed in a fishing magazine. A 22 year old college student with sore muscles in her arm, hand & fingers after writing a 3 hour final. A 55 year old woman carrying a fluff ball of a Pomeranian named Princess Puff--in the airport--who'd of thunk? Proud wives of "Guardians" with their cameras around their necks. News reporters with their little pads of paper in such contrast to the TV news people in their spike heels and suits being trailed by long black cords and lit up by white bright spot lights.The numerous volunteers wending their way through the masses handing out free parking passes, flags and bottles of water. Airport personnel dragging carts of even more chairs, looking for places to squeeze in a few more. Many 80- 90 year old women looking fatigued at 10:45pm, most had other family members with them, but there were several that captured my attention: standing alone holding the little "old glory" and a handbag, waiting patiently, watching down the long flag lined corridor for a sign of their returning soldier.......looking into the faces of these lone women, I could imagine them standing at an airport or train station years ago, waiting for these same servicemen to come home. I wondered if they had a sense of deja vu or was the romantic in me taking over? I was totally flabbergasted at the size of the crowd. I had to park in Coal Valley---well, not quite, but almost! All of these people, everyone with their own story to tell. I met a woman waiting for her husband who had been assigned to Pearl Harbor to replace the deceased Intel & Com after the attack. Another whose husband had been at Iwo Jima. A niece was waiting for her dying uncle who made the trip to D.C. today, but years ago landed on Normandy Beach. A pilot who had a crowd of people bearing flags bigger than most and wearing badges with photos of him "now" and "then" and that said things like: "you are my hero", "thank you Honor Flight QC", "God Bless the USA", "Always Remember". Behind all of the noise of the conversations I could hear strains of patriotic songs and had to waddle dance to "for a duck may be somebody's mother" and march around to "mine eyes have seen the glory" Finally at 11 o'clock there was much applause, we peered down the people lined aisle and saw the flashing light of an airport cart bringing out the first of the vets, cameras flashed, hands were shook, tears were wiped, hugs were given, but what I found to be the most pronounced and notable happening was what I could hear the crowd saying to these men; strangers with paunch bellies, gray hair, wizened, craggy faces with bright eyes. Some were staggering a bit after such a long day, some were riding in the carts or wheelchairs- all had their shoulders back and their heads held high as they shook hands with the throng and the throng said continually....thank you, thank you very much, you are so appreciated, oh how I thank you, God Bless you, and every single variation of thanks........to these total strangers...........these old men......these brave, courageous Americans......the Greatest Generation...........wow..........let us never forget our gratitude to these men who we are losing at a rate of 800 a day. It is because of them that we live the lives we live....let us always remember.
There were so many on this Honor Flight and a few will be featured or mentioned by some form of media, but how wonderful it would be if we could hear the story of each and every one of them. While awaiting their arrival I was caught up in the stories of the crowd, but it is the stories of these heroes that I long to hear. I wish these men wore the special yellow shirts that identify them as Honor Flight participants every day. I am sure that I rush past these men everyday- in the market or the drug store, these men who deserve my thanks, these men who pressed their frail hands into mine, these men who kissed my cheek and thanked ME for coming out to see them, these men who truly are the Greatest Generation.
If you know one of these men, please,

New arrivals from Eritrea in eastern Sudan at Shagerab reception center, where they now have to live in crowded tents and makeshift huts. Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees in Sudan have mostly enjoyed protection for the past four decades, but it has been extremely difficult for those living in the east and in Khartoum to support themselves, particularly when they lack ID. In eastern Sudan, the absence of durable solutions prospects makes refugees highly dependent on humanitarian assistance and some to risk the journey over Lybia and the Mediterranean Sea to arrive in Lampedusa. Conditions in refugee camps need to be improved. Possibilities for employment and economic opportunities need to be enhanced to reduce refugees’ dependence on external assistance. At the same time, improvements are required in the current asylum legislation to guarantee access to asylum and registration procedures and to eliminate restrictive practices.

The Eritreans, along with Ethiopians in Sudan represent one of the most protracted refugee situations in the world. UNHCR considers that the end of the Eritrean war of independence in 1991 and the end of the border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia in 2000 removed the root causes of the Eritrean refugee problem. However forced army recruitment and political instability continue to push Eritreans into flight.While many Eritrean refugees are expected to depart for resettlement in 2009, those newly arriving from Eritrea will be accommodated and assisted in the different camps. / UNHCR / R. Ek.