Sharon L. Meyer is a 65 year- old native of Defiance , Ohio . Sharon is an elementary school teacher. She also taught catechism for many years. Sharon worked with youth, 4H as an advisor, and on the Defiance County 4H Advisors Committee for many years.

Sharon is a Charter Member and has been a Life Member of AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary 1991 in Defiance for 18 years. She has held most offices on the local level including President. She also served as 9 th District President.

She is married to Eugene Meyer, a US Army veteran. Gene served in the Signal Corps as a photographer. He retired from General Motors after 39 years of service. He is a Past Commander of Post 1991, Defiance and 9 TH District Commander and is serving a 2 nd year as National Provost Marshal.

Sharon has five sisters. Her father, Harry Dirr passed away in1979. Her mother, Donnie Ward passed away in 1983. Her step-father Homer, also deceased, was in the Army and the invasion of Normandy in WWII.

Sharon & Gene have a daughter and three sons:
Francine Meyer who resides in Westampton, NJ; Mark Meyer, W5 Active Military Army and wife, Missy, who reside in Westminster, MD; Anthony and wife,Terri; and Matthew and wife, Novell, who reside in Sherwood, OH. Sharon is a proud grandmother of 10 grandchildren.

“ Open Your Heart and Help Veterans Soar” — Honor Flight has once again been chosen as our newly-elected Department President's Project.

Their Web site is: www.honorflight.org

As many of you know, The Honor Flight program was conceived by Earl Morse, a Physician Assistant and Retired Air Force Captain, to honor Veterans he has taken care of for the past 35 years. After retiring from the Air Force in 1998, Earl was hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs to work in a small clinic in Springfield , Ohio .

In May of 2004, the WWII memorial was finally completed and dedicated in Washington DC which quickly became the topic of discussion among his WWII Veteran patients. Earl repeatedly asked these Veterans if they would ever travel out to visit THEIR memorial. Most felt that eventually, somehow, they would make it to DC perhaps with a family member or friend.

Earl could tell that the majority of the Veterans had given up hope of ever visiting the memorial that was specially created to honor their services and the services of their fellow comrades who paid the ultimate sacrifice. That's when Earl decided that there was another way to get these Veterans to D.C. to see THEIR memorial.

In addition to being a Physician Assistant, Earl is also a private pilot and member of one our Nation's largest and best aero clubs located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton . In December of 2004, Earl flew his first Veteran to D.C. to see his memorial. In January of 2005 Honor Flight was born with 11 pilots joining Earl to make this a reality for many more Veterans.

By the end of 2007, across America 6,000 WWII Veterans realized their dream of visiting THEIR memorial! Their goal in 2008 is to fly 12,000 WWII veterans to see THEIR memorial. Two factors are extremely important: 1) all of our heroes had a safe and memorable trip and 2) we were able to raise sufficient funds so that every veteran flew absolutely FREE!

Sharon 's goal during her year as President is that our Auxiliaries in Ohio can continue to join forces by raising funds or donating manpower to help many more WWII Veterans, many whom are our fathers and grandfathers see THEIR memorial!

PRO/Historian — Catherine Keller
Theme: Your Auxiliary Stars Shine
Chairman's Award: Most pictures and News Articles Submitted