PLATTSBURGH — The 12th season of North Country Honor Flight kicks off Saturday as Flights 52 and 53 will transport 30 veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit their war memorial monuments.
“We’ve been waiting all winter for this and everyone is excited to get going again and we are going to have a great day,” North Country Honor Flight Executive Director Barrie Finnegan said.
The two flights will leave from Plattsburgh International Airport right after the morning ceremony, which begins at 7 a.m. at Veterans Park on the Oval of the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base.
The veterans and their guardians will then be taken to the airport on their special Honor Flight bus with an escort of up to 250 motorcycles, several fire trucks and law enforcement vehicles.
“The weather is supposed to be good and we expect another big turnout,” Finnegan said.
Flight leaders for these flights will be Laurie and Mike Parsons.
WORLD WAR II, KOREAN WAR VETS
On board these two flights will be one World War II veteran, 100-year-old Dusty Smith of Lake Placid, and one Korean War veteran as well as several who served during Vietnam.
While the North Country weather is expected to cooperate Saturday, it could rain in Washington. If that happens there will be more than 60 umbrellas waiting for the veterans and their guardians.
“Hopefully we won’t need them, but we’ve got them if we do,” Finnegan said.
The North Country Honor Flights will return to the airport at about 8:15 p.m. Saturday and supporters are invited to greet the veterans at the Oval.
HONOR FLIGHT HISTORY
Honor Flight was established nationally in 2005 to take World War II veterans to Washington to visit their new monument. The program has since expanded to include Korean War and Vietnam veterans.
Cold War and some Desert Storm and Afghanistan veterans have also been able to make trips.
More than 275,000 veterans have taken Honor Flights since its inception.
Locally, 780 veterans have flown on the 51 flights out of Plattsburgh since the North Country chapter was formed in 2013.
Finnegan said they are planning to take 120 veterans on flights this year.
“We generally have a list of about 150 that want to go so we will be able to take most of them this year, and then we get more applications and we usually stay at about 150,” he said.
“We are usually able to get to everyone within two years.”
FLIGHT EXPENSES
While there is no lack of veterans who want to fly, costs for the trips continue to go up.
Finnegan said that each charter flight costs $27,000.
“So we spend $54,000 each day we fly,” he said.
North Country Honor Flight uses Air Charter Express, a division of Freight Runners out of Milwaukee, Wis.
“They have been great to work with and they really help us out,” Finnegan said.
Several fund-raisers are in the works to help keep the program’s coffers solid, and Finnegan said the generosity of the North Country continues to amaze him.
“People have been so generous and wonderful, but there is not a lot of wiggle room and if something goes wrong it could be difficult,” he said.
“But as long as donations keep coming in we should be able to continue.”