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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- It was the flight of a lifetime for a group of mid-Missouri World War II veterans.

66 men and 1 woman took to the skies Monday for a whirlwind trip from Columbia to Washington, D.C. and back again, all less than 24 hours.

The veterans travel with a personal “guardian” who ensures they have a safe and comfortable trip. 

Central Missouri Honor Flight uses donations to provide the trip free of charge to the veterans. The organization takes the veterans to see Arlington National Cemetery, the Korean and Vietnam War memorials and the main attaction: the WWII Memorial.

"They say it is a beautiful memorial,” said WWII Navy Veteran Carrol McCubbin, Osage Beach.

It's a memorial to McCubbin’s service, but one he's never seen. McCubbin remembers raising money through the VFW in Eldon to help build the memorial but never thought he’d be able to see it himself.

The World War II Memorial was finished in 2004, nearly 60 years after the conflict ended.

For many veterans the memorial opened too late. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that U.S. veterans of World War II are dying at a rate of more than 1,000 a day. Sixteen million served in the conflict with only a little over 2 million still alive.

"It's an honor to be here,” says Manuel Ramos of Jefferson City who served in WWII and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Being able to see all the memorials on the trip held special meaning for Ramos.

“Heart goes to pounding. It's a feeling to see what the veterans are getting,” Ramos said.

The generation that returned quietly from war isn't used to a day just for them.  The day is a day of reflection, sometimes to memories long buried beneath the business of life.

“I flew over Nagasaki and Hiroshima,” McCubbin recalled. “It was just flat, every once in a while you'd find a tree standing and everything else was gone.”

“It made you feel bad for the Japanese but they pulled so many atrocities,” McCubbin went on to say.

The Veterans can't help but think of those who didn't come home, those whose futures remained dreams unrealized.  

“It's an honor for the guy who didn't make it back,” Ramos said of the WWII Memorial.

For those who did make it home, the words "thank you" seem to mean the most.

“This one is one from my granddaughter,” Ramos said as he opened a letter on the plane ride home.

Organizers of the Honor Flight had asked family and friends to write thank you letters for the veterans to be handed out as a surprise at the end of the trip.

“Is this a good way to end the day?” I asked Ramos. He replied: “You betcha. Nothing could be happier.”

McCubbin also received letters from his grandchildren. He couldn’t recall if they had ever thanked him specifically for his WWII service.

“I realize that there are lots of people who care about what we did,” McCubbin said.

The plane filled with tears as each veteran opened his bundle of letters. They seemed to be filled with a renewed sense of pride for a job well done and the realization of their place in history as our heroes.

"It just gives you a new outlook on life and that this country is going to be all right,” McCubbin said at the end of the trip.

The Central Missouri Honor Flight wants to send more veterans Washington D.C.

The organization needs your help in two ways: first, to get the word out to local veterans to sign up for the free flights and second, to donate money to pay for the trips.

For example, the staff at St. Mary's Health Center in Jefferson City raised money to sponsor a trip for Cliff Holt of New Bloomfield.

The nurses and doctors said they read about Holt in a newspaper article and decided they wanted to make sure he got to see the WWII Memorial.

To donate you can call (573) 301-5657 or click HERE.

$300 covers the travel costs for one veteran.