Mr. Peter Salcedo, 90 years young, Charter Member, VFW Post 7420, District 1, just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. with Honor Flight. Mr. Salcedo served during WWII in the Pacific theater. He says that if it weren’t for Honor Flight he would never have been able to make the trip. From the moment he boarded Southwest Airlines to D.C., to the arrival in D.C. where the crew from Honor Flight (all volunteers) took him under their wing to the motorcycle escort provided by the American Legion Riders, Post 226 to the memorial was incredible. Then the bus service provided for the rest of the day was incredible. The trip home again on Southwest when the flight attendants acknowledged him and another WWII veteran from San Diego made the whole trip entirely unforgettable.
Honor Flight is dedicated to honoring as many World War II veterans as possible by bringing them to DC to visit THEIR memorial and honoring them for their selfless service to our nation during WWII.
It was an emotional experience for Mr. Salcedo and an honor to be able to visit the Memorial. Honor Flight recognizes that our WWII veterans are seniors and very few of these veterans have the funds or physical stamina to complete a conventional trip to Washington, D.C. on their own.
Honor Flight provides them a free trip to visit THEIR memorial. The program operates on donations from organizations and individuals. They also provide “guardians” who personally escort the veterans on the aircraft and accompany them to the memorials throughout the day. Guardians pay their own way. Medical attendants are not provided.
For more information on Honor Flight and/or an application visit www.HonorFlight.org or call 937.521.2400.