Don Waful’s life reads like a good book. The Syracuse resident was president of the Syracuse Community Baseball Club for 35 years, survived 28 months in a German prisoner of war camp and his wartime marriage to his first wife inspired a musical that was staged in Syracuse and Philadelphia. The climax, Waful said, would come this weekend when he...
Don Waful’s life reads like a good book.
The Syracuse resident was president of the Syracuse Community Baseball Club for 35 years, survived 28 months in a German prisoner of war camp and his wartime marriage to his first wife inspired a musical that was staged in Syracuse and Philadelphia.
The climax, Waful said, would come this weekend when he visited the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. He had never seen it.
Waful, 94, joined a group of 13 World War II veterans from Central New York who were invited to join a Rochester Honor Flight that flew 44 veterans to the memorial. The two-day trip was free for the former troops, who are to return home today.
“This means a great deal to me. It’s probably going to be the last big experience I’ll have because of my age and because I’ve outlived most of my contemporaries,’’ Waful said before leaving.
The Rochester hub is part of a nationwide program that flies World War 11 veterans to the memorial at no charge. In two years more than 550 veterans from that era have seen the memorial thanks to the Rochester program, which is funded by donations.
The CNY vets were invited to fly out of Rochester because there is no Honor Flight hub in Syracuse. Randy Flath, of Camillus, is trying to launch a similar program in Syracuse but he lacks volunteers and money to lift it off the ground.
“Time is running out,’’ Flath said.
That’s because the World War II veterans are in their 80s and 90s and will be too immobile to travel or be dead within the next 10 years, he said. Flath can be reached at 430-3779 or honorflightsyracuse@yahoo.com.
Syracuse Navy veteran Harold Seib, who served on a ship in the Pacific for two-plus years, participated in the weekend trip. He has wanted to see the memorial since it was built in 2005 and said going with a group of fellow veterans would make for a special trip, Seib said.
“It just feels good to have somebody honor us like this,’’ said Seib.
You can reach Scott Rapp at srapp@syracuse.com or 289-4839