Four Athens men got the ride of their lives Saturday.

Col. Sam Gibbons, 93; Master Chief Carl Gates, 81; Flight Officer Bill Legg,83, and 1st Lt. John Conlon, 91, were aboard Honor Fight No. 3 leaving out of Huntsville International Airport 6 a.m. Saturday, bound for Washington, D.C.

Honor Flight, a program sponsored by The Huntsville Times and WAFF-Channel 48, began last year flying World War II veterans to Washington free of charge on chartered airliners to visit the National World War II Memorial.

The first flight flew just 14 WWII veterans to the nation’s capital and the second flight flew 123, according to officials of the Tennessee Valley Chapter of Honor Flight.

This was the second flight since the inaugural flight of April 4, 2007. There are three more flights planned this year. The fourth flight is scheduled for May 31; the fifth and sixth flights of Sept. 13 and Oct. 18 are still tentative.

The concourse bridge leading from the parking deck was abuzz by 4:30 a.m. with dozens of veterans, their official guides and family members there to see them off. Plenty of wheelchairs were made available for those who needed them.

Several of the veterans took advantage of the wheelchairs, although they do not use them regularly, because they found when they reported to the airport before dawn on this momentous day it was like the military they remembered of 65 years ago—“hurry up and wait.”

But, all in all, Honor Flight is a highly organized endeavor with a guide along with each of the veterans to assist them in any way they can. There is a complete medical staff, including doctors and EMTs, on every flight. No one but the EMT’s that are stationed at the entrance to the plane, is in uniform. Other medial personnel on the flight try to remain as unobtrusive as possible so as not to give the impression of a sick room.

That makes for a full flight for the one-day trip, due in Saturday night to a landing ceremony.

The veterans are treated like heroes from the time they enter the airport grounds. On the day of departure, active duty soldiers dressed in fatigues and berets line the drive going into the parking deck and once they ascertain the visitor is there for Honor Flight, he or she is directed to the fourth level of the deck for free parking.

More members of the military are stationed inside to make sure everything goes smoothly for these honored members of society who are leaving us at the rate of more than 1,000 a day.

Proud family members snapped dozens of photos and wiped way tears as they saw their old soldiers off. As for the honorees, meeting their gaze and giving them a thumbs-up sign brought a wreath of smiles to their faces, whether they knew you or not.

One of the truly amazing things is that after almost seven intervening decades, ask them their serial numbers and you get it—at least that was so for the four Athens men. Although they have had to memorize Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, zip codes and many other identifying numbers over the years, they can almost spontaneously recite their serial numbers.

Organizers held a pre-boarding ceremony Saturday that included the singing of the national anthem, the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance, and an invocation.

And then over the microphone came the command: “You are hereby reactivated – without pay. You are hereby ordered to report to Washington, D.C. We thank you, your community thanks you and your nation thanks you. You are truly members of ‘The Greatest Generation.’”