Washington, D.C
25th High Plains Honor Flight takes veterans to Washington, D.C.
As High Plains Honor Flight went wheels up for its 25th expedition back to Washington, D.C., on Sunday morning, plenty of people on board knew exactly what to expect.
Honor Flight President Matt Voris said there are volunteers going on their 15th-plus trip. Voris himself said he has lost track of how many he’s been on.
But for the 120 veterans on board, the next 36 hours will be like almost nothing they’ve ever experienced.
“We find the magic of Honor Flight is when 120 of them are together, they start chatting. They’re in like company with people who have experienced the same kind of things they did,” Voris said. “And by the time we get back here, it’s like the weight of the world is lifted off of them.”
Voris said many veterans — specifically combat veterans — return home from serving and bury most of what they experienced deep down, not even wanting to talk about it with their closest family. He’s noticed with those who have taken an honor flight, something loosens up inside them.
“We’ve had many, many families tell us after their veteran gets home from a trip, ‘Uncle Jimmy never talked about anything while he was overseas. And now since he took the trip, we can’t get him to shut up.’ ” Voris said. “It’s an awesome thing.”
The veterans started their 36-hour trip Sunday morning with the Escort of Heroes, which took them from the McKee 4-H Building at The Ranch Events Complex to the Northern Colorado Regional Airport. Thirteen veterans who served in Korea, 106 who served in Vietnam and one who served in both flew to Baltimore, where they were scheduled to attend a banquet in their honor. They will wake up Monday morning and head to D.C. to visit the World War II Memorial, Iwo Jima Marine Memorial, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Air Force Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial and Korean War Memorial and fly back. All before bedtime.
“We keep busy,” Voris said.
This year’s trip — named in honor of the late Col. William R. Suhre, an Army veteran and Greeley resident who was awarded a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Silver Star for his heroics in Vietnam — will be the first without any World War II veterans.
Along with the natural fight against time, that is in big part because the group has grown that much closer to fulfilling the original goal of founder Stan Cass.
Cass, a 29-year-old Army veteran, founded the organization in 2008 as Northern Colorado Honor Flight with the goal of giving every Northern Colorado World War II veteran an opportunity to see the then newly established World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Voris took over in 2008, reviving the program and renaming it to High Plains Honor Flight.
“There are not very many World War II guys left from this area that have not previously been on one of our flights,” Voris said.
Before the trip officially kicked off, High Plains Honor Flight paid tribute to those who have passed since last year’s flight as well putting on a pair of musical performances at the McKee 4-H Building.
Local artist Fleeka performed her song, “Lovin A Hero,” about saying goodbye to a soldier about to deploy; and Richard Kerns, a veteran who went on an honor flight last year, performed his song, “Take to the Sky.”
The lyrics of the chorus — which he wrote on the flight back last year after being inspired by the journey — read:
“Take to the sky, with honor they fly, serve those who served, take them higher than high.”
Veterans, with honor, took to the sky Sunday morning. And after a busy day-and-a-half, they will take to the sky again Monday evening and return home, hopefully, feeling higher than high.
Part of the international 111 Places guidebook series for locals and experienced travelers, this guidebook reveals the very spots where enslaved people set out on a valiant escape towards freedom, where Americans fought for civil rights, and where many individuals followed their dreams and made lasting social and economic contributions to the city and the nation. Rosa Parks’ retreat on O Street, the home of abolitionist, author, and orator Frederick Douglass at Cedar Hill, and a park dedicated to the Father of Black History Carter G. Woodson are among the many places and stories in this travel guide associated with Black luminaries.
Williamson also highlights local gems in the city today, such as Everyday Sundae and DC Sweet Potato Cake for irresistible treats, both owned and operated by Black entrepreneurs. The Anacostia Community Museum has offered insights into urban community life for over 50 years.
On the creative scene, Art of Noize hosts unique film, music, and art events in Petworth. Black Last Supper, a sculpture by artist Akili Ron Anderson, was lost for decades until it was discovered behind a wall in 2019 at the Studio Acting Conservatory. Allegory at the at the Eaton Hotel offers cocktails from inside an experiential art installation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland through the eyes of Ruby Bridges.
“I thought I had seen everything in Washington,” says photographer David Wardrick. “But this project took me to many places I had no idea even existed.”
“111 Places in Black Culture in Washington, DC That You Must Not Miss” features full-page photos and maps to encourage explorers to see out these venues across the DC area. It is available now for pre-orders wherever books are sold.
This book is part of the illustrated 111 Places guidebook series for locals and experienced travelers. Each guidebook presents a city, region, country, or specialty theme from a wonderfully different and personal perspective. Go off the beaten path to find the hidden places, stories, shops, and neighborhoods that unlock a destination’s true character, history, and flavor. http://www.111Places.com
Title: 111 Places in Black Culture in Washington, DC That You Must Not Miss
Publisher: Emons Publishing, Cologne, Germany
Author: Laurie Williamson
Photos: David Wardrick
Pub date: June 19, 2024
Price: US$23.95
Binding: Paperback with flaps
Extent: 240 pages
Illustrations: Color photographs throughout
ISBN: 9783740820039
Size: 5 ¼ in. x 8 1/8 in.
High-resolution images available here. Please credit ©️David Wardrick
Lauri Williamson is a licensed tour guide and entrepreneur. She grew up in New Jersey, moved to Washington to attend Howard University, and fell in love with the city. She enjoys creating experiences that both educate and enlighten visitors to Washington, DC.
David Wardrick, Digital Storyteller, is a lifelong resident of the Washington, DC region, where he focuses on visual media production. He is an award-winning photographer and videographer with four decades of production experience. David’s work has been featured in USA Today, NASA-TV, multiple books, magazines, and across social media.
Media Contact
Karen Seiger, 111 Places Guidebooks, Emons Verlag, 646-256-5280, [email protected], www.111places.com
SOURCE 111 Places Guidebooks, Emons Verlag
WASHINGTON D.C. — Fountain Police Officer Julian Becerra was honored in our nation’s capitol Monday. His name is one of thousands read aloud Monday night to honor law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.
WATCH: Remembering Fountain Officer Julian Becerra
Each year, names of officers killed are engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C. Monday. Their names were read aloud as part of National Police Week.
Officer Becerra’s name was read aloud along with Sergeant Michael Moran, who was killed during a traffic stop in Cortez in last year.
WATCH: Cortez Police Department honors the life and legacy of Sgt. Michael Moran
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USA, Abstract Backgrounds, Abstract, Black Color, Blue
Developer conferences for founders and computer scientists, developers, and designers of cryptocurrency tokens and blockchain technology are typically found in places like San Francisco, New York, or cities that are tech hubs around the world. While Washington D.C. might not come to mind as a crypto tech hub immediately, a combination of remote working policies and burnout from policy conferences has prompted a ‘genesis’ first-of-its-kind conference only for developers in D.C.
So if you are interested in a neat drink of technical blockchain development speakers and panels with policy talk on ice, the very first ETHDC conference is being held at Culture House DC tomorrow on May 14th starting around 9:30am ET. I had a chance to talk with Shailee Adinolfi, Business Development Manager at TrustMachines and someone who has been in the blockchain space in D.C. for a long time, who explained how she identified a growing ecosystem of developers in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland that over several years grew to 300 people.
Adinolfi stated, “The genesis ETHDC conference is to put a spotlight on D.C. area founders in the crypto space. We formed the DC DAO and the idea of ETHDC came about because we wanted to have an event for ourselves that was not focused on policy where we have talked about things like scaling and roll-ups, token standards and abstraction and all the things that we want to do to scale, grow and succeed in this space, and partner with each other.”
Amid what many are describing as a Bitcoin renaissance with renewed interest in developing applications on top of the base layer of Bitcoin, TrustMachines is a company that is focused on developed the Bitcoin
Bitcoin
UniSwap, MetaMask, and Casa are among the many companies that will be represented. Adinolfi said developers attending the conference are looking to, “…understand how these companies have dealt with launching tokens in a decentralized way in a safe space – for what developers, not policymakers want to talk about.”
It is of course hard to ignore the policy discussions that may arise with the aforementioned companies particularly regarding MetaMask and self-custodial wallets. Adolfini described that a self-custodial wallet, “…is like a browser, but where the user owns all the cookies, bookmarks, and their data, and can easily switch providers and keep all of those things intact”.
UniSwap has made public that it received a Wells notice from the SEC and ConsenSys, the developer of the MetaMask wallet, also received a Wells Notice after which the company announced it was suing the SEC to defend the Ethereum
Ethereum
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