79 attend Patriot Trip with Assemblyman Hawley in trip’s return after 3 years
Photos courtesy of Assemblyman Steve Hawley’s Office: The 79 people on the Patriot Trip visited the World War II Memorial.
State Assemblyman Steve Hawley led a group of 79 on the 14th annual Patriot Trip from Thursday through Sunday. The trip returned after a three-year absence. The 2020 and ’21 trips were cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions and concerns.
Hawley started the trips for local veterans after taking his father, a World War II, to see the war memorials in the nation’s capital. Hawley said seeing the memorials helped his father to talk about his experiences in the war and to feel appreciation for his service.
The group stopped at the Iwo Jima Monument.
Hawley also pushed to lead the trips after a suggestion from another World War II vet, Michael Paduchak of Kendall. He wanted to see a new World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. Hawley and his staff put together a Patriot Trip that has endured. This year’s trip was the first time there wasn’t a World War II vet on the journey. Most of the veterans on the latest trip served in the Vietnam War.
The trip included stops at the WWII, Korean War, Vietnam, Iwo Jima, Air Force and September 11th Memorials. The trip also included visits to the National Museum of the United States Army, Gettysburg, the National Museum of the United States Marine Corps and a host of other famous sites and monuments in and around the Washington, D.C. area.
The last monument stop was by the “Three Soldiers” that are part of the Vietnam War Memorial.
