Honors tour

World War II veteran Tom Bradley of Fairfield, pictured, visits the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial in Washington, D.C., which commemorates all the Marines who have died in battle since 1775, during an honors tour in April. On top of the monument?s base is a 78-foot-tall bronze statue based on the famous photograph of the U.S. flag being raised on Mount Suribachi during the World War II battle for Iwo Jima.

The Marine memorial was one of the many sites visited during the honors tour attended by 24 local war veterans. The trip was all-expenses-paid and was the eighth taken from southeast Iowa. A bus took the veterans from Muscatine to Chicago, and from Chicago they flew to the U.S. Capitol.

Some of the most enjoyable moments for Bradley were meeting the many young men and women who wanted to shake his hand and show their appreciation.

?I?m pretty sentimental and I cried a lot,? Bradley said about the experience.

A lifetime resident of Fairfield, 87-year-old Bradley was deployed to Germany in 1944 and was a forward observer for an 81-millimeter mortar.