The 36th Never Forgotten Honor Flight took 110 area veterans to Washington, D.C. Monday to enable them to see the memorials to the various conflicts.
The Never Forgotten Honor Flight began its mission in April, 2010. In the latest flight, one World War II veteran, seven Korean War, and 102 Vietnam era veterans made the one-day journey.
Among those on this flight was Vietnam-era veteran Michael Fanning of Eagle River. Fanning was in the U.S. Army and took basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. He learned to be a heavy equipment mechanic and was stationed in Germany. He later sent to Vietnam where he was a heavy equipment operator and truck driver. He was asked what it means to be on the Honor Flight.
Fanning says he appreciated the enormous amount of work that went into making the flight a pleasure for the veterans...
"..It was fantastic, above and beyond what I ever expected. People were so fantastic, everybody was so nice. They went out of their way to be good to us. All the time involved with volunteers and stuff is just impressive."
Veterans receive a free round-trip flight, and guardians pay $500 for the opportunity to accompany one or two veterans on the trip. The Never Forgotten Honor Flight has taken 3,360 veterans to Washington, D.C. during the past ten years.
WXPR's Dave Havel was on the Honor Flight.
Any veterans from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War eras are encouraged to submit an application. Officials say the only criteria to qualify for an Honor Flight is to have served during the years listed on the application, regardless of where they served. We have a link here.
