PLATTSBURGH — North Country Honor Flight will hit the skies for flights 54 and 55 on Saturday with a full contingent of veterans.
The flights that will take off from Plattsburgh International Airport will include three veterans from the Cold War, 26 Vietnam veterans and one from Desert Storm.
The two aircraft will fly to Washington, D.C. where they will visit the memorials dedicated to the wars American veterans have served in.
“It’s going to be hot in D.C., but we’ve got cooling towels, umbrellas for the sun, plenty of water, an air-conditioned bus and we’ve got a great medical team to watch out for these guys,” North Country Honor Flight Executive Director Barrie Finnegan said.
North County Honor Flight was established in 2013 to take veterans to Washington to see their memorials. Since then, 780 veterans have flown from Plattsburgh to the nation’s capital.
“Thunder in the Burgh,” a long train of local motorcyclists will once again escort the Honor Flight buses from the opening send-off ceremony at Veterans Park on the U.S. Oval to the flight line of the airport.
“They’re shooting for 250 motorcycles for this trip,” Finnegan said.
The send off ceremony starts at 7 a.m. sharp.
HONOR RUN
At the end of the ceremony, seventh-grade students from Beekmantown Central School will commence with the “Honor Run,” a road race that will coincide with the motorcade to the airport.
“The seniors at Beekmantown did this five years ago when they were seventh-graders and they will be here to help this year’s seventh graders set up this run,” Finnegan said.
“They’ve all done a great job and it will be a great fund-raiser for us.”
The race features a 5K ($25) and 1 mile walk ($20), is open to the public and runners can registers on line at https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/Plattsburgh/PenairNorthCountryHonorRun or sign up the morning of the run.
Runners are encouraged to wear patriotic attire and prizes will be doled out for best dressed.
“These students sat at a desk and contacted every single business on the North Country Chamber of Commerce’s list and asked for support for this race,” Finnegan said.
“That’s what people are willing to do for these veterans and it is just amazing.”
FLIGHT SPONSORS, SUPPORT
Finnegan said flight leaders Gina Bond and Fred Woodward once again did a great job preparing the veterans for their flights.
Saturday’s flights are sponsored by Harmony Golf Club, which raised about $25,000 through a tournament for Honor Flight.
“North Country Honor Flight would like to thank Harmony and Bruce McCormick for their much appreciated hard work and effort to put that all together,” Finnegan said.
“We’d like to thank Stevie Fuller and Kim Marsha, owners of Harmony and Jason Fuller for the support from Fuller’s Excavating, also Mike Murray from Murray Electric for being major sponsors of the tournament.”
Finnegan said they are always looking for more sponsors to help offset the cost of each flight, which is about $35,000.
“That’s a lot to cover the cost of a whole flight so we look for donations of about $12,000 from each to help out,” he said.
“It can be tough at times, but the North Country people always seem to come through and we are able to keep these flights going for these veterans.”
The next Honor Flights will be Aug. 31 and Oct. 5.