WASHINGTON, DC (KGTV) — Over the weekend, ABC 10News went along with San Diego honor flight - a service that brings local veterans to memorials in Washington DC that honor their service.
Sadly, a couple of veterans passed away shortly before the trip.
Honor Flight San Diego made it its mission to honor them.
One is Staff Sergeant Louie Silva.
He passed just weeks before the flight to get the thank you he deserved.
"He was looking forward to this. I mean he was planning. He got his hat. He got the medals on it. He showed me a picture. He goes to look at it. How do you like this hat? I said, 'Yeah I love it. I got all my medals from my uniform. So, I said, 'Alright I'll see you there., but it just didn't happen," said Curt Silva, his son.
His son and granddaughter were at the Korean War Memorial he would've visited if he made it on the trip.
"He doesn't talk much about the war so it would've been nice to reflect back as a kid. He was 20 years old," he said.
The soldier was on the front line at the end of the war.
"He was there when the armistice was signed. He remembers it was quiet and they could hear the enemy talking across enemy lines and then war basically ended that day," he said.
Honor Flight San Diego is looking for any remaining World War II and Korean War veterans to take on future Honor Flights. You can find more information here.
