Ted Giannone saw the Superstitions from the air for the first time aboard a plane operated by a group that honors veterans with flights.
Ted Giannone is 100 years old, and a World War II veteran, so he’s seen some things. But he said he’d never really seen the Superstition Mountains until Tony Anger showed them to him.“He flew inside, and I saw the inside of the mountain: the waterfalls, the mountains, the gorges, the beautiful valleys. It’s unbelievable when you see inside,” he said, “And I thought that was a thrill.”
Giannone, who worked as a Navy airplane mechanic on board a carrier ship and flew missions as a gunner in the war, has plenty of stories to tell beyond his time as a sailor. But his sentiment, that he is no different than any other veteran, aligns with the goals of Grounded No More, which seeks to acknowledge the courage and commitment of every military service member, no matter where or when they served.
Later, he looked for work of his own. Times were tough in the 1930s, he said, and he couldn’t find a job. One day he took a subway ride and noticed a big group of sailors in the rail car. They were all dressed in their whites, and they looked “like they do pretty good,” he said.Boot camp was in Norfolk, Virginia, where it was cold, and people called him and other northerners “Yankees.” It was a tough few weeks, but he got through it.
Giannone credits his survival to the men on the other ships and planes who lost their lives that day. “I never felt so left out,” he said, recalling the day he was discharged. “There I was in the Navy all these years, and now I’m out… It was a loneliness feeling that I don’t think anybody could understand.”
“I think it’s wonderful. It’s good for veterans,” he said. “See, when I put the word ‘veterans’ in there, I feel a little bit relieved. I’m not just being chosen out. I don’t want to be chosen out…A veteran is a veteran.”Tony Anger, who started Grounded No More, feels similarly about honoring veterans, regardless of when or how they served.
“I just loved his story and I kind of felt God punching me on the shoulder like, ‘Hey, you could do better than this,’” he said. As the name of the plane might suggest, Anger views his mission as one of faith as well as service. He and the volunteers pray before every flight. Anger, as both a minister and a former member of the Air National Guard, calls the project an “accidental ministry.”
He ran back and helped his dad out of his seat, and they both escaped, his dad suffering a big lump on his head. Anger says it all resembled a scene from MacGyver.“I’ve always loved it. I love the machinery of it,” he said. “It’s just the freedom, you know? You’re up there by yourself.” But they agreed that everybody, civilian or not, has been touched by the military in some way. So it’s an honorable thing, now, to see their family recognized in this way.
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