“It was the most emotional flag ceremony I’ve ever done,” said Honor Flight Dayton’s Kelly Cox of her experience in D.C. late last month.
While Cox has conducted countless flag ceremonies during Honor Flight trips, the most recent instance resonated with her deeply, as she was using the flag bequeathed to Army veteran Arlin Martin’s family at his funeral just one month ago. Martin, who was scheduled to travel with Honor Flight Dayton this season, tragically did not make the trip, as he passed away on May 2, just a few weeks shy of his flight.
Martin’s grandson Cameron Martin, 17, of Tipp City initiated his grandfather’s participation in the Honor Flight experience, completing all the required paperwork, even volunteering to go as his guardian. The two were originally slated to go on the April trip, but the elder Martin’s health concerns forced them to reschedule for the May flight.
Cameron said that after his grandfather’s passing, he didn’t think he wanted to keep his seat on the May 28 flight, but a call from Honor Flight Dayton President James Salamon quickly forced him to reconsider.
“I kind of didn’t want to go, but they found out that grandpa had a military (funeral) service and wanted to use his flag,” said Cameron.
Cox added that “it didn’t take him very long to say yes,” to Salamon’s offer of using Martin’s flag in their ceremony, which takes place on each trip in honor of the fallen. She said the flag ceremonies are always conducted using the flag from a fallen serviceman’s funeral, and serve to honor not only that individual, but all the soldiers who will never get to see their memorials erected in their honor in the nation’s capital.
“We always take a flag for the ceremony and felt that using this one would be perfect,” said Cox.
During the flag ceremony, Cox said Cameron chose a World War Two veteran to accompany him in placing his grandfather’s honored flag in a wheelchair so that it could be ceremoniously paraded before the group. She noted that the World War Two veteran who accompanied Cameron had been sitting in a wheelchair the whole time before the ceremony, but that he was so moved by the experience that he stood up and walked with Cameron.
Arlin Martin moved to the Dayton area in 1949 after being discharged from the military. He served in the Army in Augsburg, Germany from 1951 to 1953 as a personnel clerk and administrative officer. He also entered Korea just as the Korean Conflict was ending. Originally from Hazard, Kentucky, Arlin lived in Tipp City for the past 50 years after coming to the area to work as a pump designer for the Duriron company in Dayton.
He was married to his wife Rose Ann for 59 years and together they raised four children, all of whom graduated from Tipp City Schools.
Cox said the next Honor Flight Dayton trip is scheduled for November, as for the first time in the organization’s history, they are faced with unfunded flights. She explained that the switch to chartered flights allows more veterans to go at once, but it makes the group’s fundraising efforts more difficult to keep up, as the chartered flights accommodate nearly twice the amount of veterans as commercial flights.
To register for or donate to Honor Flight Dayton, visit www.honorflightdayton.org, or reach out to volunteers via the Honor Flight Dayton Facebook page.
