Accompanied my fourth Hudson Valley Honor Flight to Washington, DC, Arlington National Cemetery and the Iwo Jima / Marine Corps Memorial last Saturday. It was my third mission this year and the inaugural flight day from Westchester County Airport in White Plains, NY. You can view more images from the flight HERE over on the website’s archived pages. There will also be a picture story of my coverage in the December issue of Westchester Magazine in the “Behind the Scenes” column… ~ cg.
WWII Veterans and their escorts onboard the Hudson Valley Honor Flight pose at the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC on Saturday, October 18, 2014. Seventy-six veterans from the Westchester County (NY) area toured the WWII Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery on the inaugural flight from Westchester County Airport in White Plains, NY. Hudson Valley Honor Flight is a chapter of the Honor Flight Network, which provides free flights for WWII Veterans and tours of the WWII Memorial constructed in their honor, and other sites in the nation’s capital. © www.chetgordon.com
WWII Veteran and Pearl Harbor Survivor Chick Gallella of Yonkers, NY salutes Audie Murphy’s gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA on Saturday, October 18, 2014. Murphy was WWII’s most decorated soldier. Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty military, retired service members and their families. © www.chetgordon.com
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
