Tree Planting in Popular Park Aids Hurricane Recovery in Lake Charles

Driving through the City of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Jacob Garland still passes too many houses with what has become a local symbol of need — a blue tarp on the roof. Eighteen months ago, Hurricane Laura — a Category 4 storm tied as the strongest to ever make landfall in Louisiana — devastated the area. In a cruel twist of fate, Hurricane Delta struck the same area six weeks later.

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My Word: A Day to Remember

An older man wearing a blue Vietnam veteran hat and jacket poses with a red-headed woman in a red Honor Flight Network shirt in front of a green and black memorial statue of three Vietnam soldiers.

Leaving for a vacation in 2017, I saw an Honor Flight arrive at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI). For those visiting a Washington, D.C.-area airport, this is a common sight: groups of volunteers welcoming World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans to the terminal before embarking on visits to memorials in the nation’s capital. Honor Flight Network, which hosts these visits, has a mission of gratitude, and recognizes the service, sacrifice and selflessness of veterans by honoring them with a free-of-charge trip to Washington.

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