For the last 10 years, a national nonprofit organization called the Honor Flight Network has been flying World War II and other military war veterans into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) so they can visit the memorials that stand in their honor. When they land, they are greeted at the gate by the Chantilly-based West Point Alumni Glee Club, which sings patriotic songs as the veterans disembark. The club will soon perform military songs a capella for the 400th honor flight arriving at DCA from Indiana on May 20.
The Glee Club, made up of 65 local members who are all graduates from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point spanning from graduation years 1949 to 2006, were all members of the military institute’s Glee Club and average nearly 20 years of active duty service. Seventy-five percent of the club’s members are combat veterans themselves.
Terrance C. Ryan, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran, is one of the club’s founders.
“In July 2007, about 160 graduates of West Point, from the classes of 1952 through 2001, gathered for the first ever Glee Club Reunion Concert at West Point,” he said. “We soon realized that about 60 of those graduates lived right here in Northern Virginia and the Metro D.C. area, so we decided to form our own local club.” Full Story»