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 The 80 Vets, who will depart from Abraham Lincoln Capital
Airport, will come from the 53 Illinois communities and cities of
Alton, Athens, Bloomington, Bluffs, Brighton, Canton, Carlinville,
Chapin, Chatham, Chenoa, Chesterfield, Clinton, Danville, Decatur,
Dorsey, Dow, East Peoria, Emden, Findlay, Godfrey,
Greenfield, Gridley, Hillsboro, Jacksonville, Lincoln,
Litchfield, Macon, Mahomet, Maroa, Mason City, Middletown,
Modesto, Morrisonville, Mt. Olive, Murrayville, Oreana, Palmyra,
Pekin, Petersburg, Pinckneyville, Potomac, Rankin, Rantoul,
Riverton, Roanoke, Rochester, Rushville, South Jacksonville,
Shelbyville, Shipman, Springfield, Taylorville and Watson. Having
been established in early 2009, this will be LLHF’s 39th flight and
a total of 2,985 Veterans will have been honored with their Honor
Flight.
 Departure for DC will be shortly after 6:00 AM on a chartered 737
jetliner from Springfield and then the 15 US Air Force, 44 Army, 10
Marines and 11 Navy Veterans will tour Washington’s Military
Memorials and other related sites on three coach buses for the day.
The final stop will be Arlington National Cemetery to visit the
cemetery and witness the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldiers. The group will then be due back to the Springfield
airport at 9:30 PM, thus family, friends and the general public are
encouraged to come to the airport early to “Welcome Home” these
heroes for the sacrifices and service they gave to our country. All
participants are encouraged to show their patriotic spirit with
balloons, posters, small flags, red-white-blue clothing, etc. Come
out and say “thank you” to those who have protected your freedoms.
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Veteran applications continue to be accepted, with priority given in
the following order: World War II (person enlisted by 12/31/1946),
then Korean War Era (01/01/1947 to 12/31/1957), followed by the
Vietnam War Era (01/01/1958 to 05/07/1975). WWII and Korean War era
could still fly in 2016 with prompt submission of app. Any certified
terminally ill Veteran should contact LLHF directly. Also, because
every Veteran flies with a guardian escort - a volunteer who pays
their own way - applications for guardians are also being accepted.
This may be any able-bodied person, 18-70 years old, except for
Veterans who have already been honored with a flight. For the
guardian fee, included is LLHF’s training, cap & t-shirt, round-trip
flight, bus tour during the day, meals & snacks, and the rare
privilege of spending the day honoring our true heroes – the
Veterans.
Veteran or Guardian Applications may be obtained at
www.LandofLincolnHonorFlight.org or by contacting John
Dust at HonorFlight Guy@aol.
com or phone 309-339-0227. LLHF, ran by non-paid board and
volunteers, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that receives no
government funding or grants. So they may continue to honor the
Veterans with these flights, it relies on the generous donations,
sponsorships, fundraising events, merchandise sales and supporting
efforts of the many local businesses, individuals and organizations
within their service area. Please visit the web site to make a
donation, consider holding a fundraiser, book a board member speaker
or to obtain more information on the Honor Flight mission. Also
consider following LLHF on their Facebook page to stay current on
upcoming events and flights for this year. Land of Lincoln Honor
Flight has also announced additional upcoming flights on August 16th
(filled), September 13th and October 25th.
[John Dust] |
