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Health & Fitness

Ohio vets ready to storm World War II Memorial

By Maggie Thurber | for Ohio Watchdog

World War II veterans from Ohio are the next wave of war-worn warriors vowing to defy orders and storm barricades at a memorial built in their honor in Washington, D.C.

An outpouring of support from across the country — and the willingness of guests and volunteers to risk arrest — helped Honor Flight of Northwest Ohio proceed with its scheduled trip Wednesday to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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“We’d been watching the issue for several weeks,” said Lee Armstrong, the group’s president. “We planned the flight back in May, but knowing they were talking about a government shutdown on Oct. 1, we kept watching and told our volunteers to be ready.”

Honor Flight is a national nonprofit that gives veterans free transportation so they can see war memorials. More than 3,500 veterans from across the country are scheduled to visit the memorials this month.

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Watching and waiting gave them time to see what happened when Honor Flight groups from Mississippi and Iowa refused to let barricades at the monument stop them from visiting and paying tribute Tuesday.

On Wednesday, more veterans moved the barricades to gain access and the National Park Service issued an announcement that, despite the government shutdown, the memorial would remain open to veterans under the First Amendment.

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