Reporter’s note: It was “a spot of cancer” that kept Howard Hansford from participating in Honor Flight South Georgia II. However, the 80-year-old vowed to not let anything stop him from participating in Honor Flight South

Georgia III. He completed his radiation therapy for prostate cancer as directed, hoped for the best, and was blessed with a clean bill of health, at least for the time being.

I met Howard Hansford one week ago at a 10 a.m. Memorial Day ceremony at Sunset Hill Cemetery. He was representing American Legion Post 13 as chaplain, and I was covering the annual event for The Valdosta Daily Times. It was photographer

Paul Leavy who introduced me to Howard Hansford and told me he was one of the approximately 100 World War II veterans who had participated in the third and final Honor Flight South Georgia on May 17.

I asked Howard Hansford if visiting the National World War II Memorial was everything he imagined it would be. He smiled and shared his thoughts on that moment and so much more.

VALDOSTA — If Howard H. Hansford had done exactly as he was

ordered, he would not have lived to the ripe old age of 80. He would have died a young man in his late teens or barely 20, a young man who never married or celebrated the births of children and grandchildren, a young man who never realized his true purpose in life.

Howard Hansford was born on Feb. 27, 1928, in Alameda, Calif. He was a self-described typical west coast teenager who loved playing football, driving his 1933 Plymouth convertible, and having a good time. He was

a high school senior when he was drafted by the United States Army Air Forces on March 4, 1946, in the post World War II years. (The United States Army Air Forces was the direct precursor to the United States

Air Force, which was established in 1947).

“I had just celebrated my 18th birthday,” he recalled. “I was ready to serve, to get in there and do my part, to get out and see the world. My two older brothers had served, and my father was in World War I. I figured it was my time. Luckily, I had earned enough credits to graduate with my diploma.”

Howard Hansford said that he completed basic training in San Antonio, Texas, then did a stint at Lori Field in Denver, Colo., before joining the 13th Air Force, 1st Squadron, 9th Bombardment Group at Clark Air

Base in the Philippines. (The Philippines and the United States had only recently signed a military assistance pact giving the United States a 99-year lease on designated military, naval, and air bases. A subsequent agreement reduced that time period.)

A year into his time in the Philippines, Howard Hansford found himself in trouble when “me and a buddy left the base without checking out as required” for a few hours of fun out on the town. When he returned, he discovered the B-29 he had been assigned to had left without him because no one knew where he was or how to get in touch with him.