User:Instaurare/Honor Flight Network

The Honor Flight Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to transporting as many United States military veterans as possible to see the memorials of the respective war(s) they fought in in Washington, D.C. at no cost to the veterans. The program currently focuses on bringing veterans of World War II to the National World War II Memorial, and any veteran with a terminal illness to see the memorial of the war they fought in. The program will "naturally transition to Korean War, Vietnam War and all other veterans who served, on a chronological basis."

History
According to the Honor Flight Network, the idea for the Honor Flight program was conceived by Earl Morse, a physician and retired Air Force captain. Morse worked in a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Springfield, Ohio, Ohio, where he saw many patients who were WWII veterans. After the National WWII Memorial in Washington was completed in 2004, he asked many of his veteran patients if they were going to see it, but "for most of the veterans he asked, reality had settled in; it was clear to most that it simply wasn't financially or physically possible for them to make the journey." Morse offered to fly with two veterans to Washington to see the memorial, and after seeing them break down and cry and graciously accept the offer, he pitched his idea to a local club of 150 private pilots, that the pilots would pay for the flights for the veterans to Washington and personally escort them around the city. Eleven volunteered, and the network was formed; by 2005, a board was formed, funds were raised, and volunteers had joined.

The first honor flight took place in May 2005, when six small planes flew 12 veterans to Washington. Due to high participation, the program began using commercial flights. At the end of 2005, the program had transported 137 veterans to the memorial. The program expanded into areas not serviced by commercial airlines in 2006 when a group in Henderson, North Carolina chartered a US Airways flight.

Honor Flight Network says it has transported 63,292 veterans of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to Washington.

Heroes' Welcome
Heroes' Welcome is a sub-group of the Honor Flight Network which organizes welcoming ceremonies for the honor flights at the three Washington-area airports (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, and Washington Dulles International Airport). Heroes' Welcome is a project of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 180 in Vienna, Virginia. The ceremonies typically involve a group waiting inside or outside the gate where the flight arrives, clapping and cheering as they walk in. Active duty military members are often present.