SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Honor Flight San Diego saluted veterans for their service on the 79th anniversary of the end of World War II on Sunday.
ABC 10News reporter Spencer Soicher shares why this day is one that WWII vets never forget.
"I mean, it's our duty and our, you know, to make sure that we honor them every year and for what all these world war two veterans did to keep us a free country," says Holly Shaffner, the public relations director for Honor Flight San Diego.
Inside a big room in Liberty Station, WWII veterans raised their hands as they told other veterans and Honor Flight San Diego volunteers what it was like on this week 79 years ago.
"Well, what a relief it is for so many, so many thousands of people to not have the threat of the Nazi war machine anymore," Fred Taylor says.
You can thank the 102-year-old Taylor, who was in the Army Air Corps. It might have been 79 years ago, but his memory of the end of the war is as clear as yesterday.
Taylor says he learned the huge news via the radio.
"Everyone remembers where they were, of course, when they heard the news," Taylor says.
He comes to this event every year, eager to hear different veteran stories from that day in 1945.
"The important thing is for me to meet and get reacquainted with a lot of World War II veterans," Taylor says.
"Every single one of these 44 World War II veterans knew exactly where they were on Aug. 14, 1945, when President Truman announced that the war was over," Shaffer says.
For organizers like Shaffer, hearing the thank yous means so much, but giving veterans this platform is what really makes the effort worth it.
"Those are the stories that we're not going to find in the history books," Shaffer says.
In addition to events like this one, Honor Flight San Diego also flies veterans to Washington, D.C., to show them appreciation and recognition for their service. The organization is taking donations for its next trip, and you can contribute by following this link.
