Louise George of Renton recently returned from a trip she almost didn’t make. The 97-year-old wasn’t sure, at first, if she wanted to take the Puget Sound Honor Flight’s tour of Washington, D.C., because she has bad knees and other ailments and didn’t want to be a burden.

Puget Sound Honor Flight flies veterans to the nation’s capital for a tour of monuments built in their honor. Staff from the group visited residents of Merrill Gardens last year, where George resides, and after some urging from her sister, George decided to make the trip.

In May she traveled with 54 other veterans from Washington state for “one last mission” on the Puget Sound Honor Flight.

“I’m very happy I went because I was well-taken care of,” she said.

World War II veterans and also those with a terminal illness are Puget Sound Honor Flight’s top priority. The organization estimates that the country loses approximately 1,000 World War II veterans per day. The trips are free to veterans and made possible through individual donations and corporate support.

George was a secretary for the Marine Corps during World War II and has traveled back to D.C. since then but not on such an extensive tour, she said.

This group had 50 guardians or chaperones that took care of the veterans’ every need. USO volunteers saw them off, wishing them well and Vietnam veterans on motorcycles escorted their buses to the hotel, once they arrived in Baltimore.

George said she was fascinated by how much Washington, D.C. has changed since she served there.

“That’s where I was when I was in the Marine Corps in 1943, ‘44 and ‘45, but of course it’s changed tremendously, you know – crowded, apartments, hotels, office buildings – just packed,” she said.

The group got up early every morning, boarded buses and hit the sites. George was particularly moved by the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the Women In Military Service for America Memorial. She called the statue of the soldiers planting the flag at Iwo Jima “gorgeous.”

“I just really loved that statue; it’s beautifully done because even the wrinkles in their clothes were there and then their shoes,” she said. “It was like you were actually looking at them, you know.”

At the only major national memorial honoring women who serve, George got a special treat. She went inside and the staff on duty looked up her name, discovering she was a charter member.

“That made me feel worthwhile,” she said with a laugh.

On the trip she met up with fellow veteran Louise Edwards of Tacoma. The two were the only women veterans in the group.

The veterans received a surprise on their flight back to Seattle. In a special “Mail Call” each received a bag of letters from friends, relatives and various students. Upon arrival at Sea-Tac Airport, there was a reception with Marines and Navy personnel in attendance. Veterans were also given hand-made quilts.

George was just as impressed by the Honor Flight crew as she was by the monuments, she said.

“I cannot express my thanks enough to the people who handled the event and all the work that went into it,” she said. “They are true volunteers with love of America and its veterans.”