How many monuments are in Washington, D.C.?
Gary Hoffmeier’s trivia question typically elicits a number of responses.
10? 20? 50?
“Nope,” he replies. “There’s only one. The rest are memorials.”
Indeed, the iconic Washington Monument is the only actual monument in our nation’s capital.
Don’t worry if you get it wrong, he reassures a Register reporter. Everybody does.
“I had no idea,” he admitted.
The nugget was one of several vignettes Hoffmeier shared after taking part in the most recent Honor Flight excursion hosted by Southern Coffey County High School.
Gary and Don Hoffmeier, both of whom served in the Navy, were joined by Iolans Jerry Skidmore and Raymond Sutterby and 20 other veterans from southeast Kansas invited on an all-expenses-paid, two-day tour of Washington, D.C.
They departed a week ago today, on April 14, before returning home late in the evening Friday.
While in Washington, the contingent visited several landmarks, including the Navy Memorial, the Iwo Jima Marine Memorial and Air Force Memorial and a trip to watch the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery on the first day, and then for memorials honoring World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans, lunch at the Lincoln Memorial, stops by the memorials for Martin Luther King Jr. and FDR as well as strolls by the White House and U.S. Capitol.
“It was just an awesome trip,” said Sutterby, who served in Vietnam while with the Army before he later enlisted in the National Guard. “I had always wanted to go. I know there’s a lot to see, and it’s hard to realize just how big some of those places are. When you’re at the Lincoln Memorial and ole Abe is sitting in that chair, 15 feet tall.”
THE HONOR Flight is the 19th such trip organized by Southern Coffey County instructor Jeff True, who has the twice-yearly trips down to a science.
The itinerary was set up to the minute, noted Gary Hoffmeier.
“He had everything so well organized,” he said.
Each veteran also was paired with a high school-aged chaperone to accompany them through each of the landmarks. A doctor and nurse also are part of the contingent in case any of the veterans had any health issues.
“Let me tell you about those kids,” Hoffmeier continued. “If I was worrying about our next generation, I probably didn’t need to be. These kids have their stuff put together.”
As an aside, Gary and Don Hoffmeier were paired by SCC students Alycia DeAnda and Cody Heslop, both of whom already have announced their plans to enlist in the military after high school graduation.
Heslop is going into the Army; DeAnda into officer training school for the Marines.
