88 World War II veterans are getting a free trip to Washington, DC on April 5th through the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight.
We sat down with one of the vets going on the flight to the World War II memorial, honoring their service and sacrifice
Les Casali enlisted in the army in 1941 at the age of 19 and came out of the air corps in 1945.
"I came out with three bronze stars," Casali modestly tells us. "That's not what I went in for. I went in for the service to our country."
Casali spent more than two years of his service in Burma at war with Japan. He says during that time, he thought he would never come home.
"It's priceless what I saw and did there, but coming home again was even better than that. I wouldn't want to go back there again", he says with a slight smile. "No way."
Tuesday, more than 65 years after his service, Casali is flying out to see the World War II Memorial and Arlington National Cemetary in Washington DC with 87 other veterans from Illinois. It's a part of his life he seldom talks about since he and his comrades never stayed in touch.
"I just haven't heard from them since I left the unit," Casali.
Yet he is excited for his first flight to the capitol of the country he fought for and to pay respect to the men he fought with.
"This is my country." He repeats the statement to drive home his pride. "This my country. And I can't wait to go out and see the memorials for the comrades that I didn't even know that died so we can have our freedom here."
There will be a welcome back ceremony open to the public when the vets fly back to the Springfield Airport at 9:40 pm on April 5th.
We'll have more about Mr. Casali's trip to the memorial on Thursday.
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