A ‘LIFETIME’ ACHIEVEMENT
At 100, WWII aviator gets honorary day, help after Harvey
Kathy Walker has seen her father cry only three times in her life: twice after Hurricane Harvey destroyed his Willowbrook-area home and again Sunday.
William Fly, a World War II veteran, turns 100 on Monday but celebrated the milestone in grand style a day early, honored by family, a group of newfound friends from Indiana and public officials who bestowed upon him flags honoring his service to the nation.
“It represents a lifetime,” said Fly, a lifelong Houstonian, choking back tears. “It’s overwhelming.”
The honors included a letter from Vice President Mike Pence expressing gratitude to Fly “for putting on the uniform to defend our nation and fight for freedom.” The letter added that Fly’s “heroic service as an Army Air Forces aviator in the European theater of World War II gave the United States and our allies the air supremacy we needed to win.”
After the reading of Pence’s letter, Fly was presented with a U.S. flag flown recently over the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., and a Texas flag that flew over the Alamo in San Antonio on the 180th anniversary of the battle. Harris County Commissioners proclaimed Nov. 13 William Madden Fly Day.
It was particularly overwhelming for Fly because he recently endured the death of his wife, Mary Beth, and Harvey’s devastation, which he thought would ruin him financially and rob him of the independence he so valued. He described it as “a one-two punch.”
Fly’s home took in about 4 feet of water, which ruined most everything, including family photos and other valued mementos. He’d
stayed as long as possible, evacuating by boat just hours before the floodwaters entered his home.
“I thought life was not going to be worth anything anymore,” said Fly. “I thought, ‘That’s it.’”
Unbeknownst to Fly, members of “Task Force Hoosier” heard about his plight. A group of police, firefighters and emergency medical responders from Evansville, Ind., who trained under Cypress Creek’s EMS department, organized a relief effort. They brought eight semitrucks of donated supplies and spent a week helping local first responders and veterans clean up their flooded homes.
Fly said to them, “Y’all came all the way from Indiana to help me?”
The team spent a day working to remove sheetrock and damaged belongings, the start of what would be a long process rebuilding Fly’s home. The key was a pledge by Marcus Luttrell, the former Navy SEAL who received the Navy Cross and Purple Heart for his actions against Taliban fighters, to raise funding so Fly’s house could be rebuilt.
That was the first time Walker saw her father cry openly, when she told him of the plan. The second time was last week, when he first saw the restored house.
It was Task Force Hoosier who remembered Nov. 13 was Fly’s 100th birthday and arranged for the special celebration. They contacted Indiana Rep. Wendy McNamara, who spoke at the event and enlisted Pence to write his letter of thanks and send the U.S. flag.
Before it was flown above the World War II Memorial, the flag was carried through the building by a National Parks Service staffer, who wrote Fly he wished he could be there to personally shake his hand. He wrote that he was crying as he penned the letter.
“My grandma and grandfather survived the Holocaust,” wrote Ridka Zuares. “They were very young and my grandma tells us how they used to fight over crumbs that fell because of how hungry they were. Without what you all have done during World War II, I don’t know if I would be here today.”
The reading of the letter marked the third time Walker saw her dad cry.