www.wdayhonorflight.com

Honor Flight

Your Financial Support is Needed and Appreciated.

WDAY WWII HONOR FLIGHT TO TAKE “BONUS” TRIP in Spring 2008

WDAY Honor Flight is no longer accepting applications for future trips.  However, you can still apply on the National Honor Flight Website at http://www.honorflight.org/.   There are many locations around the country conducting these trips and we hope other groups in Minnesota and North Dakota consider organizing a trip for the World War II Veterans in their community.   

August 18, 2007

Less than 3 weeks to go until 430 individuals take off for Honor Flight #2 on September 7th and 8th! The flight includes about 260 WWII veterans from North Dakota, Minnesota and for the first time South Dakota! It's been a lot of work, but we're gearing up for a bigger and better trip this time around. The veterans will see many of the same sites Honor Flight #1 travelers saw in May, including the WWII memorial, Korean Memorial and Vietnam Memorial. But this time, they'll go on a guided tour of Arlington
National Cemetery. Last time around, some of our veterans wanted to visit President Kennedy's grave but because of time restrictions we were unable to do that. With the guided tour, we'll make that a priority along with watching the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknowns. We're also going to be entertaining the veterans and escorts at a banquet at our hotel on Friday night. We'll have a great meal and hear from some guest speakers. Pre-flight preparations are underway. It's not always easy to travel with such a huge group. How many of us have flown on a 747 before? Wish us luck!
 

June 27, 2007

Things are rolling right along for WDAY WWII Honor Flight #2 and #3. Our trips are scheduled for Sept 7-8th and Nov 2-3rd in Washington D.C.  During their time in Washington they will take a tour of Arlington National Cemetery with stops at the Kennedy grave and the Tomb of the Unknowns. They will also visit the Vietnam Wall and the Korean Memorial as well as the Lincoln Memorial. In the evening they will be guests of honor at a banquet featuring notable guest speakers. The trip will cap off with a visit to the World War II Memorial.

Veterans are being notified about the flights. We'll be seeking more information from them and asking them if they're still interested in going on the trips before we formulate our final travel roster. We're hoping to send about 500 veterans on these two trips alone. As you can imagine, that will cost a lot of money. The overall cost of each flight is more than $200,000. We're well on our way to making it happen thanks to the generosity of this amazing community and region. Fundraisers are popping up everyday so it's easy to help.

May 22, 2007

WDAY WWII HONOR FLIGHT SETS DATES FOR 2ND AND 3RD TRIPS – BIGGER THAN FIRST TRIP

The WDAY WWII Honor Flight committee has announced that September 7-8th and November 2-3rd will be the dates for the next Honor Flight trips to Washington.

We’re working with Northwest Airlines to charter a Boeing 747 for each trip. The planes carry 430 passengers. It’s expected that about half of those on the plane would be WWII veterans. The rest would be veteran’s escorts, medical and support staff.

On May 5th we completed our first Honor Flight trip. In all, 108 WWII veterans took part in some or all of the festivities in Washington which included the visit to the WWII Memorial, a wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery, a Capitol Hill reception, and visits to other war memorials and the Smithsonian institute.

We are currently working on our itinerary for Honor Flight #2 and #3 and hope to include many of the same attractions veterans from the first flight enjoyed. We will be sending letters to veterans early this summer to notify them about the trip and ask for follow up information before deciding upon the final travel roster. Veterans are selected for Honor Flight based upon a first-come-first serve basis. Applications were date-stamped upon arrival to our application headquarters in north Fargo.

To date the region has raised more than $200,000 dollars to help send the 600 plus veterans who have applied. Fundraising is ongoing.

WDAY WWII Honor Flight is a collaborative effort between businesses, service clubs and individuals to send WWII veterans to Washington D.C. to see the memorial built in their honor.

Contact: Tracy Briggs 241-5240 or visit our website at www.wdayhonorflight.com
 

April 17, 2007
Updated Itinerary
Pre-Flight Meeting

April 10, 2007
WDAY WWII Honor Flight to Raffle Two Cars to Raise Funds for Washington Trip.

The WDAY WW II Honor Flight committee is raffling off two vehicles to raise money to send more than 100 World War II veterans to the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C.

The vehicles are being donated by the Chrysler Dealer Group and the Dodge Dealer Group. They are: 2006 Dodge Durango SXT 4x4 (List Price: $32,500) and 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Touring Convertible (List Price: $24,870).

Raffle tickets can be purchased during a special WDAY WWII Honor Flight telethon at the West Acres Mall in Fargo from 5:00 am-6:30pm on April 12th. The cost is $50.00. Tickets will also be available for sale at WDAY, West Fargo VFW, Moorhead VFW, the Fargo American Legion and the Moorhead American Legion. The winning ticket will be drawn this summer at the West Fargo VFW.

WDAY WWII Honor Flight is a collaborative project between WDAY, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and area veterans groups to send World War II veterans to the memorial built in their honor. The project was launched in December of 2006 and since that time more than 620 veterans have applied for the all-expense paid trip. 102 veterans, along with escorts and support staff will be making the first trip on May 3rd through the 5th.

The community has generously supported the project. More than $150,000 has been raised so far. About $400,000 is needed in order to send all 620 applicants.

The roster for the first WDAY WWII Honor Flight has now been set. Letters were recently sent to 101 World War II veterans asking them to join us on the flight to Washington D.C. to visit the WWII memorial. The veterans were chosen on a first-come-first-serve basis out of a pool of more than 600 who applied.

“We’re so excited to be taking these deserving men and women to see the memorial built in their honor. It should be a great weekend,” said Honor Flight organizer Tracy Briggs. “We’re just frustrated we can’t take every single veteran who applied. If the funds keep rolling in from the community we’ll be able to do that,” she said. The trip is completely free to veterans. Escorts who accompany the veterans are charged for their trip. Not all veterans have escorts.

Currently, the community has raised about $128,000. “We simply can’t believe how generous this community has been from schools to businesses to just everyday folks. I don’t know how we can ever thank them enough!” Donations are still being accepted at the American Legion, 505 3rd Avenue North, Fargo, ND, 58102 or at any State Bank and Trust location. Go to www.wdayhonorflight.com for more information.

During the trip in May, veterans will be able the guests of honor at a Capitol Hill reception hosted by our area Senators and Representatives. They’ll also take a driving tour of the monuments and have access to a tour of the Smithsonian. The trip caps off with a morning visit to the World War II memorial built in 2004. The group will also attend and participate in a ceremonial wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery.

The age range of the veterans going on the trip is 77 to 93, with the average age being 83. Sixty-five are from North Dakota, 36 are from Minnesota. (No South Dakotans were chosen to go on this first trip but were eligible to go and most likely will be chosen for future trips.) The group consists of 100 male veterans and one female veteran. They represent all four branches of the military.
Those veterans not chosen for this trip will be placed on the waiting list for future Honor Flight trips. The Honor Flight committee hopes to plan another trip for the fall of 2007. Veterans not chosen for this trip will be notified about future trips.

WDAY WWII Honor Flight is a cooperative effort between WDAY-TV/AM, Carlson-Wagonlit Travel, and area veterans groups.
 

Feb 15, 2007
WDAY WW II HONOR FLIGHT UPDATE

Things are off and running in our quest to send area World War II veterans to their memorial in Washington, D.C.
I appreciate everyone’s patience as we continue taking applications. I will tell you the veterans whose applications were received among the first 135 will be receiving finalist letters in the next couple of weeks. The letters are seeking additional information from applicants. We will finalize our trip roster by March 20th and will inform those veterans not selected for this trip that they will be placed on a waiting list.

GOOD NEWS

While many veterans will be disappointed to not be chosen for the trip on May 3rd to the 5th, the good news is we will very likely have a 2nd trip in the fall of 2007. We need to make sure donations keep rolling in so we can send another group of deserving men and women to the memorial. We realize it’s hard to wait, (you’ve already waited 60 years for the memorial!) but stick with us. We’re doing our best to offer this experience to a lot of WWII veterans.

DONATIONS

Our community has really come out in force to support this project. But we still need your money. Nobody involved in the core committee for this trip (Carlson Wagonlit Travel, WDAY and area veterans groups) are making a penny from this trip. Your contributions will go to send the veterans to Washington. Stop by State Bank and Trust locations to donate or send your contribution to Honor Flight, Fargo American Legion, 505 3rd Avenue North, Fargo, ND 58102.

FUNDRAISERS

The community is also coming forward with fundraisers to help Honor Flight. Several schools and organizations have stepped up to “Adopt a Vet.” If you’d like to find out how your organization can sponsor a veteran e-mail Lance at adoptavet@loretel.net 
Thanks also to NDSU’s Cantemus Choir. They did singing valentines for Honor Flight. Much appreciated!
Stop by for lunch on March 6th at Clay County’s FSCCC building at 715 11th St. No. for a bake sale and silent auction for Honor Flight. Call Rick at 299-7091 for more information.