IMAGE COLLECTION HONOR FLIGHT ™
Photography by Stephen R. Brown
HONOR FLIGHT ™
IMAGE COLLECTION 2004 - 2025
Photography by Stephen R. Brown
Senator Bob Dole would come down to the WWII Memorial and greet veterans a couple of days a week and would stay all day greeting vets and tourists a good part of the day.
Learn more at honorflight.org. Purchase books & prints at dcphotobooks.com.
HONOR FLIGHT™ Image Collection 2004-2025
ISBN #978-0-692-06374-3
© 2025 Stephen R. Brown. All Rights Reserved. Published by Stephen R. Brown Studios. stephenbrownphoto.com | dcphotobooks.com
srb@srbphoto.com 202.667.1965
Printed in China through Asia Pacific Offset, Washington, DC, USA
Inspired by my father Ed Brown’s service in the Navy during WWII , I did a very popular book on the WWII Memorial. I was inspired to photograph Honor Flight and the volunteers who devote their lives to making sure that veterans get a beautiful “day of honor.” I look forward to acting as my son’s guardian when they finish the Desert Storm Memorial as he served as a Marine.
Earl Morse with battery operated wheelchairs and Senator Dole and Jeff Miller on Homecoming Drive.
This group is among the many regulars that gather on Saturday mornings to greet multiple Honor Flight Hubs. The opening of the WWII Memorial inspired groups of dancers, re-enactors and volunteers to come together over the years to greet and perform for veterans.
I did a book on the WWII MEMORIAL that was a hit and sold several hundred thousand copies. This book is a tribute to the Honor Flight hubs and volunteers who have brought close to 400,000 veterans to DC for a day of honor visiting Memorials to their service.
Stephen R. Brown
FLIGHT DAY
It’s 4 AM in any one of forty-two states. Volunteers, veterans and families are gathering at the airports to check in for a day of honor. More than likely the veterans will have been issued shirts, jackets and hats and a hearty breakfast will be served.
You may if you are with Stars and Stripes run into a retired Green Bay football player or if in Missouri, the governor of the state all of these paying for the privilege of being your guardian on this day of Honor.
Your plane will be showered with an honorary water salute.
Over the years the airports have organized their own “hubs”-volunteers who act as “Greeters”arranging crowds, flags, bands and scouts to cheer on the vets as they arrive and get them loaded onto buses and off to the Memorials.
Stephen R. Brown
Volunteerism has been proven to be good for your spirit and soul and a day on the Mall will restore you to your belief in man’s innate goodness. I’ve had the opportunity to do round trips with Honor Flight Chicago Hub and “Stars ane Stripes” (Wisconsin).
Over the years the airports have developed their own hubs-volunteers who act as “Greeters”arranging crowds, flags, bands and scouts to cheer on the vets as they arrive and get them loaded onto buses and off to the Memorials.
R. Brown
ENROUTE TO THE MEMORIALS
If you’ve never been escorted by motorcycle, buckle up! The WWII Memorial attracts around 5 million visitors per year and often times visiting school children will honor the vets as they enter the Memorial.
WWII Re-Enactors, Bloggers and tourists are often about when Hubs enter the Memorial and make the experience more vivid. Occasionally I meet the hubs at the airport and ride with them into town and am extremely grateful for the experience.
WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL
The WWII Memorial attracts around 5 million visitors per year and oftentimes visiting school children will honor the vets as they enter the Memorial. WWII Re-Enactors, Bloggers and tourists are often about when Hubs enter the Memorial and make the experience more vivid.
Some of the “HONOR FLIGHT hubs” give DC PHOTO BOOK as a gift to the veterans to enhace their memories when they arrive home. The large hard cover book gets passed around and. serves not only as a reminder of the day but as a recruiting vehicle for vets who might be reluctant to go.
On a day like this, school children prepare to greet veterans at the WWII Memorial. Long time volunteers like George Kerestes (far right) and Jim and Judy Minogue have been greeting vets since the WWII Memorial opened in May 2004.
Stephen R. Brown
KOREAN WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL
Honor Flight began taking Korea and Vietnam veterans to DC in honor of their service as always giving priority to WWII Veterans and those vets who are terminally ill. I find the generosity of Honor Flight participants a cure for the shenanigans that seem to run this town.
The Korea Memorial consists of 19 statues and a marble wall with 20,000 images of faces taken from the National Archives of Korean veterans. It is rumored that some of the Honor Flight vets have found their picture. On a weekly basis, the South Korean ambassador will visit with a wreath of flowers.
Stephen R. Brown
LINCOLN MEMORIAL
The success of my DC PHOTO BOOK is that I have tried to capture every monument or memorial in a unique way and when they are not under construction (Lincoln-page 54). I update the book every year. We have a surplus of photographers in DC and so I have chosen the Mall as a life project as it’s less crowded than the White House or Congress. and certainly more soothing.
On many of the Honor Flights, relatives and loved ones follow the buses and spend the day with their veterans. Some like to surprise them and it is these moments which make DC great.
VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL
Themost controversial of the Memorials led to the creation of the statues of three soldiers (p65) and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial (p64). People in DC love to argue about just about anything but Memorials really inspire rhetoric. Maya Lin’s vision in conceptualizing the Vietnam Wall is carved into the earth so as you visit, you are more able to visit with your deceased.
Its healing power is vast: a place where objects are left in love and memory. The young woman (p59) had lost her Vietnam Vet father two weeks before this hub flew. She was invited to bring this portrait of him along.
Stephen R. Brown
ARLINGTON CEMETERY
Iamnot particularly reverential but entering Arlington Cemetery with a busload of veterans and perhaps witnessing a funeral procession, then watching the Old Guard walk the twenty-one symbolic steps is a moving experience. There are 450,000 buried and ten to twenty funeral processions a day.
There are memorials to every military unit and the Seabees are (military construction) represented as you enter Memorial Drive.
TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER
BeforeDNA testing, the remains of an unidentifiable soldier were guarded by an elite group of soldiers -”Old Guard”- who march a ceremonial 21 steps day and night in all weather. They live near the Cemetery, make their own uniforms and live a relatively monastic life in honor of their position as Tomb Guards. Honor Flights and other distinguished guests are acknowledged by scuffing their feet as they march. The young soldiers will often meet with veterans after the ceremony.
WOMEN IN MILITARY SERVICE
Women veterans like Brigadier General Pat Foote and WWII flying veteran (page 87) created enough “good trouble” until the military gave them a hillside transformed into a beautiful Memorial space for Women Veterans.
The Women’s Memorial has dramatic 35 foot high glass ceilings which have quotes etched into the glass casting shadows on the walls. The roof deck has spectacular views of Memorial Drive to the North and am amazing view of Lee House.
US AIR FORCE MEMORIAL
Arelatively new Memorial it mimics the trajectory of the Air Force’s “Missing Man” (CK) formation. It is so high that had it been in place when 9/11 happened, it would have blocked the jet from hitting the Pentagon. Since its installation, Arlington Cemetery has expanded to surround the Memorial.
MARINE CORPS MEMORIAL
My son was and will always be a Marine and so this is my favorite Memorial. The fellow on the left found himself floating in the surf at Okinawa where the flag was raised after three days and a total of 18000 dead.
Honor Flight Chicago witnesses the Marine Corp Drill Team.
NAVY YARD
The National Museum of the United States Navy is the flagship museum of the United States Navy. Located in the former Breech Mechanism Shop of the old Naval Gun Factory on the grounds of the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., United States, its future is in jeopardy with urban development.
The “Lone Sailor Statue” is located on Pennsylvania Ave along with fountains that are fed by the seven seas.
STEVEN F. UDVAR-HAZY
Honor Flight days waste no time and those hubs that use Dulles Airport often stop at the “other” Air and Space Museum which was opened to house the growing collection of aircraft.
WELCOME HOME
While you are touring about DC, thousands are gathering to greet you upon your return. I had the opportunity to fly round trip with Chicago Honor Flight and with Stars and Stripes out of Wisconsin. I’ve ridden with hundreds of Honor Flight hubs around DC and recommend the experience. It’s why I did this book!
Your community has been busy extolling your virtues and you’ll be getting mail! School children, friends and relatives are encouraged to write letters as Mail Call is observed on the way home.
