On October 11 and 12, a group of 35 women veterans — including local veterans Rose Mary Allen of Lakewood, Irene Davis of South Dayton, Donna LaMonica-Sample of Bemus Point who traveled with her travel buddy Michelle Battaglia who is a band teacher at Falconer school, Janet Snow of Westfield who traveled with her travel buddy Tracy Curtis who is also a woman veteran, Kathleen Sullivan of Bemus Point, and Rebecca Vass from Dunkirk — boarded the Buffalo-Niagara Honor Flight and traveled to Washington D.C. to see the monuments there and receive special veteran honors.

According to the Fenton History Center’s Vets Finding Vets program that helps put these flights together locally, all 35 women on the flight had either served prior to Vietnam or during the Vietnam War but not in Vietnam.

Allen said for her she wanted to go on the flight because it was a tribute to veterans, and something that many chapters do. She said the flights first honor World War II veterans, then Korean and Vietnam veterans.

“It was an honor to be acknowledged as a veteran,” Allen said. “It’s hard to pick a favorite part for me because the whole time was covered, but I really enjoyed the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”

Submitted Photos Pictured are the local women veterans who participated in the trip before boarding the bus to begin the trip.

Davis said she wanted to go on the Honor Flight because she had heard it was a very interesting experience. For her, one of the highlights of the trip was visiting Arlington Cemetery.

“It was an emotional experience, and it was very nice,” Davis said. “It was bigger than I thought it would be. I also really liked the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”

As one of the few female veterans that participate in the Jamestown Dwyer Veterans Program, LaMonica-Sample said other members of the program told her about the trip and encouraged her to go. The experience, she said, was unbelievable.

“It can be life-altering for some people,” LaMonica-Sample said. “I was also one of the four women that was asked to put the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was a cool experience.”

LaMonica-Sample’s travel buddy, Battaglia, said she is a good friend of hers as well as a veteran of the Navy and National Guard. She said she was extremely honored to be able to go with her and share their military journeys together, highlighting some of her favorite parts of the “once in a lifetime” trip.

Pictured are some of the girls who held signs to welcome and honor the veterans at the airport during the all women Honor Flight.

“First, seeing the faces on all of the women veterans as we departed and arrived; hundreds of veterans, family of veterans, friends, community members and officials were present,” Battaglia said. “The veterans’ faces were filled with tears of joy and just pure amazement by the scores of people who were there to honor these beautiful women veterans and their sacrifices. Secondly, getting to know other female veterans and their journeys was also very special. It felt like we were family by the end of the trip. Thirdly, seeing the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery was pretty awesome. As a military bugler myself with the military bands, just to see a female infantry soldier and female bugler was so special. Also, Donna along with three other veterans had the honor of laying the memorial wreath during the ceremony. That was a huge honor in itself, so emotional to see.”

Battaglia added that the entire Honor Flight staff and crew “treated the veterans like queens” the entire weekend.

Sullivan said it was an honor to be asked if she wanted to go on the flight, which was also free for the veterans. Visiting DC was also something she said she had not had the chance to do in years.

“It was nice to go back,” Sullivan said. “I also liked the visit to Annapolis, which I had never been to. I didn’t realize how big it was.”

Vass is another veteran on the trip that had also visited DC in the past but had not been in about 40 years.

“There are a lot more monuments now,” Vass said. “It was all very impressive, and I especially liked the women’s memorial, women in the military memorial and the World War II memorial. The women in the military memorial was my favorite part, and I also enjoyed meeting the other veterans on the flight.”

Snow decided to go on the flight after it was suggested to her by one of the other ladies at the Brocton Legion. She said everything about the trip was great, and that her favorite memorials were the ladies and nurses memorials.

“I was very impressed with everything,” Snow said. “I was especially impressed by the little girls that were there that were holding up signs that said ‘girl power’. These were like six and seven year old girls that were up late at night holding up these signs for us. It was one of the most well organized things I’ve ever seen.”

Snow’s travel buddy, Curtis, came along with her on the flight, saying she was interested not only because she is a woman vet herself, but also because she wanted to help Snow be able to make the trip. When applying to go on the trip as a guardian, Curtis said the application asks if the person has a veteran in mind to go with, and she knows Snow through the legion.

“She said she wanted to go but didn’t know who would go with her, so I said I would,” Curtis said. “I wanted to go because I’m a veteran too and thought it would be a good experience for both of us. I wanted her to have that experience because she is 80 years old so soon she won’t be able to travel as much and I wanted to help her have this chance.”

Curtis’s favorite part was the military women’s memorial, along with being able to connect and meet the other women veterans that she said were veterans from Korea, Vietnam, and others who participated in missions such as Desert Storm.

“My other favorite part was getting to see how happy and proud it made Janet to be there,” Curtis said.