Fall Q-C honor flight may take wing if donations keep coming
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
By Doug Schorpp | Tuesday, July 08, 2008 |
Bob Morrison hopes donations keep flowing in for a planned trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the World War II memorial in April for Quad-City area veterans who served in that war.
Since the flight was announced late last week, $30,000 in donations has been sent to Morrison, hub director of the local Honor Flight and development director at Ridgecrest Village, Davenport.
The local chapter plans to hold its first nonstop flight on April 15. But Morrison said today that a flight may be scheduled this fall if interest and donations keep rolling in.
“We may have one this fall. We’ve had over 60 reservations from people wanting to go,” he said. “There is enough interest to have two flights a year. The only question is if we have enough funding. If we can get that raised soon, we could have another flight as late as early November.”
He said $90,000 is needed altogether for each flight. The group does not accept any donations from World War II vets because the all-day trip is free to them. However, three guardians are needed per eight veterans for the flight, and those guardians must pay their own way.
But even those volunteers are coming in bunches wanting to help. Trained guardians who will help escort the veterans on the trip include Korea and Vietnam veterans, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, nurses and other people.
“We are getting all kinds of people wanting to do that,” Morrison said. “They either will pay their own way or get their own organization to pay for it.”
The Honor Flight of the Quad-Cities is part of the national Honor Flight Network, which provides veterans with a free one-day trip to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II memorial and other memorials.
The one-day trip will see veterans flying directly from the Quad-City International Airport near Moline to the nation’s capital and return home the same day. The Honor Flight is open to World War II veterans who live within a 75-mile radius of the Quad-Cities. Terminally ill veterans of all wars also will be invited to participate.
Morrison said the World War II memorial was completed in 2004 and the first Honor Flight took off the next May with six small planes and 12 veterans departing from Springfield, Ohio. Since then the demand has been so great that hubs are being created across the country. “They have already flown 7,000 veterans and another 6,000 veterans are on a waiting list nationally.“
When the program first began, the veterans were dying at a rate of 1,200 per day. The most recent statistics show 800 World War II vets are dying each day. That is why he said the group hopes to add a fall flight from the area.
To volunteer, sign up or for more information, e-mail morrison at bmorrison@ridgecrestvillage.org or write to him at: Bob Morrison, Ridgecrest Village, 4130 Northwest Blvd., Davenport, IA, 52806. People also can visit Web site honorflight.org.
Doug Schorpp can be contacted at (563) 383-2292 or dschorpp@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
reddit» More Local Stories
- Court dates set for trio accused of covering for Sheley
- Citations given for Duck Creek harassment
- People with disabilities face frustrations in stores, elsewhere
- Fall Q-C honor flight may take wing if donations keep coming
- Receding floodwaters give up trove of debris
- Dental industry gets an earful on mercury
- U of Iowa: Floods caused more than $230M in damage
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- Technology News Articles
- Computers, MP3, Phones & More. See Product Pics, Specs & Reviews.
- www.NexTag.com
- 2008 Diet Of The Year:
- Finally, A Diet That Really Works! Seen On CNN, NBC, CBS & Fox News.
- www.Wu-YiSource.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
