Honor Flight

Today is Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor the veterans of our armed services who have done so much to keep our country safe. These veterans made a choice to put themselves in harms way to defend our nation, our liberties, our lives, and our property, and that makes veterans heroes of the first order.

I would especially like to thank all of the veterans who read my blog- I thank you for your courage and sacrifice and honor in the service of our nation.

If you want to contribute something, there are a lot of things you can do. One charity that I like to raise money for is called Honor Flight. Honor Flight is a non-profit organization formed to raise funds to send all World War II Veterans to see their monument free of charge.

The WW II Memorial didn’t open to the public till 2004, when the youngest of WWII vets were pushing 80. Today, only 3 million of the 16 million who served are still alive- and they are dying at a rate of nearly 1500 per day. Time is running out to give the remaining veterans one last tribute and treat them like the heroes they are, if only for one day.

Many of these veterans are on fixed incomes, and rising healthcare costs have wiped out their life savings, preventing them to seeing their memorial that was built to honor their sacrifices. There are many sponsors to help defray the cost, but it does cost the organization about $300 for every veteran that they send to DC. The veterans get breakfast, fly out to DC, are honored when they get off the plane, visit the memorial and Arlington, have lunch, and then fly home. It is a long and busy day, but I know personally that every veteran who has gone has found it to be a moving and important tribute to them.

Please consider donating some money for Honor Flight- I know times are tough, but time is literally running out for many WWII veterans. $10 from 30 people is enough for one veteran to go.

Happy Veterans Day!