Briny Breezes resident Ed Manley, a World War II veteran, received a hero’s welcome from hundreds of well-wishers at Palm Beach International Airport after returning from a daylong trip to Washington D.C. courtesy of Honor Flight volunteers. ‘There must have been 100 veterans on the flight,’ said Mark Madden, Manley’s guardian on the May 11 trip. They visited Arlington National Cemetery and the memorials for World War II, the Vietnam and Korean wars and the Air Force before boarding the return flight, which landed about 10 p.m. The highlight for Manley, 97, who served in the 101st Airborne Infantry Division, 502nd Parachute Battalion, was the reception and send-off veterans received at the airports. ‘I was losing confidence in the country because I didn’t think anyone really cared,’ he said. ‘But the young people made me feel like I had been in church for a year and a half. It was really well done.’ Photo provided by Holly McCarthy
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