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In May of 2004, the World War II
Memorial was finally completed and dedicated in Washington, D.C. The
inaugural Honor Flight took place in May of 2005. Six small planes flew out
of Springfield, Ohio, taking twelve World War II veterans on a visit to the
memorial in Washington, DC. In August of 2005, an ever-expanding waiting
list of veterans led our transition to commercial airline carriers with the
goal of accommodating as many veterans as possible. Partnering with HonorAir in Hendersonville, North Carolina, we formed
the "Honor Flight Network."
The Honor Flight Network program was conceived by Earl Morse, a physician
assistant and Retired Air Force Captain. Earl wanted to honor the veterans
he had taken care of. He decided that there had to be a way to get these
heroes to D.C. to see their memorial. In December of 2004, Earl asked one
of his World War II veteran patients if it would be all right if Earl
personally flew him out to D.C., free of charge, to visit his memorial. Mr.
Loy broke down and cried. He told Earl that at his age he would probably
never get to see his memorial otherwise, and
graciously accepted the offer.
Earl posed the same question to a second World War II veteran a week later.
He too cried and enthusiastically accepted the trip. It didn’t take long
for Earl to realize that there were many veterans who would have the same
reaction.
The
mission and ideal of the program have spread across America. Many cities and states have fostered
working relationships with the great infrastructure that the Honor Flight
Network has developed. Since 2005
the Honor Flight Network has transported almost 82,000 Veterans from across
the USA to the WWII Memorial. The
program presently has 96 Hubs in over 40 states.
Due
to the senior age of our heroes and the prediction that we are losing
almost 1,000 of them daily, Honor Flight Twin Cities is committed to do all
we can to make their dream a reality.
We take WWII Veterans who have never been to Washington DC to visit
their WWII Memorial. It is an Honor
to take these reluctant Heroes who aren’t asking for recognition. These flights to Washington DC are a
small token of our appreciation for those men and women who earned it.
Honor
Flight Twin Cities is sponsored by Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Charity, a
501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization, in a contracted
partnership with the National Honor Flight Network. Jana and Jerry Kyser
of Roseville, MN are the Directors of Honor Flight Twin Cities. As of April 2012, Honor Flight Twin
Cities has taken 700 WWII Men and Women Veterans to Washington DC. The Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 are filled
with Veterans and Guardians. The
Fall 2013 Flight is almost filled.
We will continue to take WWII Veterans to Washington DC until we cannot
fill a Sun Country Charter flight with our heroes. The youngest WWII veteran is now 84.
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