Don’t Miss This Flight
by Charlotte Skipper
After the World War II Memorial opened in Washington, D.C. in 2004, the Honor Flight Network was created to celebrate America’s veterans for their heroic service and sacrifices.
Founded in 2005, Honor Flight is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that provides safe travel for our country’s veterans to visit the war memorials in D.C. These one-day excursions to our nation’s capital are provided at no cost to veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
Over the past 20 years, Honor Flight has expanded and now has dozens of regional hubs across the country, including one in Central Florida. Honor Flight has flown more than 295,000 veterans to D.C. during that time.
Honor Flight Central Florida, which was formed in 2012, has transported more than 1,000 veterans to D.C., primarily from Orlando International Airport (MCO). Now, the Central Florida hub is adding more flights out of Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB), which will give the organization an even bigger presence in Seminole County. Bolstering the flight schedule with trips out of Sanford is a way to support even more local veterans in a closer-to-home setting.
Honor Flight Central Florida serves veterans who reside in Seminole, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Lake counties. Husband and wife Landy and Kaye Dunham are co-chairs of the hub’s board of directors.
A Show of Support
“It’s a really nice hometown feel when we go to Sanford, because we get a lot of support from the community in Seminole and Volusia counties,” says Kaye. “We get a lot of opportunities to hang out and really, really celebrate the welcome home for our veterans.”
One of the trip’s biggest surprises for the veterans comes when they disembark the plane after returning from D.C. The entire airport terminal welcomes the veterans home with cheering, sign waving, and a full band playing. The celebrations are the perfect way for Seminole County residents to show their appreciation for these heroes, especially the Vietnam veterans who weren’t embraced with open arms when they returned from fighting in that war.
“The welcome home is where we need people to come out with their flags and posters and cheering to welcome home our veterans,” says Kaye.
“Most of our veterans right now are Vietnam-era veterans, so those are folks who never got a welcome home,” she adds. “It was a very different time for them in terms of appreciation of those who served. This is even more special for those veterans.”
The connections made during the trips to D.C. don’t end when the flight does, says Kaye. Volunteers, known as guardian donors, accompany veterans on the trip at their own expense. Many of those volunteers and veterans form special bonds during the emotional journey of experiencing the war memorials together.
“Later on after our trips, we often talk about how we’re family now,” says Kaye.
“We have some of the strongest relationships built between young and old, Army and Navy, you name it,” she says. “Just through shared experience, the camaraderie is so incredible. It’s really a special thing for the entire community, not just the veterans, to continue to have that camaraderie between us all.”
The next Honor Flight out of Orlando Sanford International Airport is Saturday, May 17
To learn more about how you can help welcome home veterans when they return that day, visit Honor Flight Central Florida Hub on Facebook or HonorFlightCentralFlorida.org.