News: Clark Co. - WW II/Korean Vets (Priority Status - 2013)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: (No surnames given)

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 3/27/2013

World War II/Korean Veterans (Priority Status - 2013)

Freedom Honor Flight, the La Crosse hub of the National Honor Flight program for veterans, announced its spring flight, scheduled for May 4, 2013. The fall flight is set for Sept. 21, 2013.

Veterans for the spring flight have been selected from applications already on file. Those veterans and guardians assigned to the May flight are being notified by phone. Volunteers began calling Wednesday, March 13.

The organization also announced it has expanded to serve Rochester, Minnesota area veterans. The new area includes Houston, Winona, Olmsted, Mower, Dodge, Fillmore and Wabasha counties. Freedom Honor flight previously shared part of its service area with a Rochester-based hub, which is no longer operating.

World War II and Korea veterans have priority status for this year’s flights. With two flights planned for 2013, Freedom Honor Flight expects to be able to serve all the World War II veterans currently on the waiting list. Officials estimate that in the 25 counties the hub now serves, there remain more than 5,000 World War II veterans who haven’t yet participated in an Honor flight. The group encourages them to apply.

Physicians and paramedics accompanying each flight help with oxygen, medication and personal needs, enabling those with chronic health problems or disabilities to attend. A guardian assigned to each veteran provides additional assistance.

Applications are available at veterans’ organizations or online at www.freedomhonorflight.org.

Freedom Honor flight is the first Wisconsin affiliate of the national network of Honor flight organizations. The hub, based in La Crosse, served 25 counties in western Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota and northern Iowa. The group’s mission is to organized and fly groups of veterans to Washington D. C. to visit the war memorials that stand in their honor. The group receives no government funding and depends on donations, which are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.