Back home from an Honor Flight Maine trip to Washington, D.C. in October, veteran Mary Alexander, of Wiscasset, said her tour of the nation’s capital was the trip of a lifetime. (Charlotte Boynton photo)
Wiscasset resident Mary Lou Alexander enjoyed a brief tour of Washington, D.C. in October, courtesy of Honor Flight Maine. An Air Force veteran, Alexander was one of five women veterans to travel with Honor Flight Maine Oct. 18-20.
Back in Wiscasset, Alexander said she still reflects on the experience and appreciates those who made it possible.
“It was a trip of a lifetime,” she said. “They really went overboard for us, from the time we arrived at the Portland airport on Friday until we returned to an unforgettable homecoming on Sunday.”
Honor Flight Maine is a nonprofit, volunteer organization that provides military veterans a free trip to the nation’s capital to visit the veterans’ memorials, and other historic sites. According to the organization’s website, Honor Flight Maine transported 250 veterans to Washington, D.C. in 2024.
Alexander said the Huntoon Hill Grange in Wiscasset and the Disabled American Veterans chapter in Maine helped provide funding that allowed her daughter to be travel with her as her guardian.
Alexander said her schedule in Washington, D.C. was extremely busy, beginning in Maine at 6 a.m. Oct. 18 and concluding with dinner at Freedom Inn Dining Hall in Fort Meade, Md.
Oct. 19 also began at 6 a.m. with a breakfast followed by a bus tour of monuments honoring the individual service branches and a trip to Arlington National Cemetery to witness the changing of the guard.
Alexander said one of the most memorable parts of the trip for her occurred at the national cemetery with a trip to the Military Women’s Memorial. There the group had lunch and took in a presentation on the history of the women serving in the military.
After lunch, the veterans continued their tour to the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, ending their day with dinner at the American Legion Post No. 175 in Severna Park, Md. before returning to their hotel.
They were up again at 6 a.m. Oct. 20 for breakfast and taken to the airport, arriving home in Maine around 11 a.m. to a welcome home parade Alexander said she will never forget.
“It was a welcome home that a lot of us never got,” she said.
Alexander was also very proud of the Vietnam veteran lapel pin she received. The pins are given to any living veteran who served on active duty in the United States Armed Forces at any time between Nov. 1, 1955 and May 15, 1975, regardless of location.
Alexander joined the Air Force in 1961. She said she really wanted to join the Marines, but she was unable to pass the eye test so she decided on the Air Force. She completed her basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where she met her first husband.
She was later transferred Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina. During her tour of duty her responsibilities included securely managing cargo and passengers on military aircraft, and ensuring that everything and everyone was transported safely and quickly. She was discharged after two years of service.
If it were not for Honor Flight Maine and the generosity of so many people, she would never been able to visit all the sites she did, Alexander said.
