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HISTORY OF HONOR FLIGHT INC.
On 29, May 2004, President Bush dedicated the World War II Memorial to honor “The Greatest Generation”. Regrettably today, very few of these elderly veterans have the funds, knowledge or strength to complete a conventional trip to Washington D.C. via commercial airline, car or bus
Honor Flight is a non profit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for all their sacrifices. We fly our heroes to Washington, DC to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – WW II survivors along with those other veterans that may be terminally ill. Honor Flight first flew in May 2005 with six small planes flying 12 WW II veterans, departing out of Springfield, Ohio. In 2006, with a waiting list of veterans expanding rapidly, we transitioned to commercial airline carriers to accommodate the maximum number of veterans as possible. Partnering with Honor Air in Hendersonville, North Carolina and Hero Flight in Provo, Utah, we formed the “Honor Flight Network.” Together, we are aggressively expanding our programs to other cities across the nation in 2008. Based on recent statistics, we are losing WW II veterans at the rate of 1200 per day. Honor Flight will continue do whatever it takes to fulfill the dreams of our veterans and, very importantly, our senior heroes travel absolutely free.
The Honor flight program was conceived by Earl Morse, a Physician Assistant and retired Air Force Captain, to honor World War II veterans In addition to being a Physician Assistant, Earl is also a private pilot and member of one of our nation's largest and best aero clubs located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. In December of 2004, Earl asked one of his WWII Veteran patients if he could personally fly him out to DC, free of charge, to visit his memorial. Mr. Loy broke down and cried. He said at his age he would probably never get to see his memorial. He accepted the offer. A second WWII Veteran was asked the same question a week later. He too cried and enthusiastically accepted a trip to DC. Realizing that the desire was so great, Earl started to ask for help from other pilots to make these hopes and dreams a reality. In January of 2005, Earl addressed about 150 members of the aero club during a safety meeting, outlining a volunteer program to fly veterans to their memorial. There were two major stipulations to his request. The first was that the veterans pay nothing. The entire aircraft rental ($600 to $1200 for the day) would have to be paid solely by the pilots. The second was that the pilots personally escort the veterans around DC the entire day. After Earl spoke, 11 pilots who had never met his patients volunteered to make their dream a reality. Honor Flight was born.
In the future, Honor Flight will also pay tribute to America's other heroes that served during Korean, Vietnam wars and then followed by veterans of more current wars. They too have given so much and it's time we show them that their efforts are not forgotten. Honor Flight has learned a lot over these last two years and one of the points that stand out is that our heroes, the veterans, aren't asking for recognition. It is our position that they deserve it. And by us making a trip possible for those men and women to see their memorial at no cost, this is just a small token we can give back to those that gave so much. By the end of 2006, across America, 891 WWII Veterans realized their dream of visiting their memorial. Two factors that we are extremely proud of are (1) all of our heroes had a safe and memorable trip and (2) we were able to raise sufficient funds so that every veteran flew absolutely free
The first flight out of Cleveland Hopkins International airport was made possible entirely by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Ohio Charities donations. The inaugural flight was held on May 23rd 2007. The Department Commander, Bill Seagraves and Department President, Jan Merrick (of Painesville, Ohio) along with twenty five World War II veterans, and Channel Three news visited the World War II memorial setting a precedent for the Cleveland area World War II veterans. The third Wednesday of the month thereafter you could see World War II veterans along with their guardians boarding a Southwest plane for their trip of a life time . Between May 2007 and October 27, two hundred and thirty nine World War II veterans were swept off on a trip of a life time: stories were shared, tears were shed, new relationships were forged and lasting memories were made.
For the 2008 season Flights will resumed on April 16th and continue on through October 15th 2008. Any World War II veteran interested in going to see their monument needs to fill out an application ASAP. Applications can be procured one of two ways: #1 contact Honor Flight Cleveland with your request, 1-440-639-9368/ Honor Flight Cleveland 37 Levan Dr, Painesville, Ohio 44077 or #2 go online to www.HonorFlight.org , print an application and mail it to 300 E. Auburn Ave, Springfield, Ohio 45505 for processing.
VFW of Ohio Charities helped sponsor the May 21st flight out of Cleveland, Ohio with the following members of the VFWOC Board serving as Guardians: State Commander Roger Frey, Sr Vice Dick Uzl Jr., Judge Advocate Sam Compton, Surgeon Gerald Ward and Past Dept. Commander Jim Dickens. The May flight had sixty-four veterans and thirty-eight guardians, Included in the guardian count were eight active duty Coast Guard, eight Honor Flight Cleveland board members and an four board members from the up and coming Chicago hub. 17 WWII veterans due to their wheelchair status received one on one guardians. As of this date World War II veterans are flying from Cleveland, Akron Canton, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Cincinnati airports along with 31 other states.
Board members for the Cleveland Honor Flight are Gene O'Quinn President, David Root Director of Finance, Jan Merrick Secretary, Charles McGibony Director of Ground Operations, Joe Benedict Director of Flight Operations, Al Revercomb Sr Director of Human Resources, Bud Spreng and Sean Ennis Trustees.
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