I was told that taking a trip on an Honor Flight would be a "life changing" experience. That is an understatement! What happened in those 40 hours is hard to put into words.

I would like to first thank Colonel Stan Cass and the entire Honor Flight Northern Colorado board of directors and committee for inviting me on the 2014 Fall Honor Flight. Actually, "thanks" doesn't really cover it, but, it will have to do for now.

The trip has forever changed me in so many ways that it will take several stories to actually get all my emotions and thoughts in print. Of course there is the Honor Flight story itself, but during the flight, two other things came up that hit me like a brick and those will be separate stories, well, rants if you will.

In fact, the issues I came across will probably be the rants of my career and could get me fired or possibly jailed. I don't care...I call 'em like I see 'em and I am going to let loose and throw some folks under the bus, but trust me, they will be deserving and I think you will cheer when you read them. Those will come towards the end of the week.

Stand by...

Back to the actual Honor Flight trip. My entire story will come tomorrow because I want to make sure a complete "picture gallery" accompanies the story, otherwise, it won't do it justice. Today's blog is pretty much to start my "thank you's" to those who make all this possible for our Veterans. I think most of you "think" you know how grateful they are, but in reality, you have no idea.

To hang out with an original can of "whoop-ass" is a dream come true. A real "band of brothers" if you will and to listen to their stories and watch them talk and act like they were still 25-year-old warriors, is something you really can't put into words. All the guardians who go on these flights, the medical crew, ground ops, hotel staff and bus drivers, are the ones who make these dreams come true for our Veterans who deserve these trips, are also heroes. You'd be surprised at how grateful these men and women truly are. You think you know, but you don't.

If I could stress one thing, it would be trying to become a guardian yourself. The magic of Honor Flight is something you just can't buy. Even though guardians pay their own way, it's much more than just money, but, it will be some of the best money you could ever spend. It's kind of like telling new parents what it's going to be like but in reality, they just won't understand until their child is actually born and they instantly become new parents.

If you want to truly experience happiness and joy, become a guardian. The link Veteran and Guardian applications is directly below and I will continue to encourage you to look into becoming a guardian or sending the Veteran in your life to Washington D.C.

That's it for today...I'm exhausted and need to recoup and gather my thoughts for tomorrow's real story, and of course, my end-of-week rants. Until then, enjoy a few pictures I have shared today and get ready for about 200 more tomorrow because they are AWESOME!

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