Honor flight Houston exists to honor WWII, Korean, Viet Nam Veterans as well as any terminally ill veterans of all other conflicts. Rotary of Texas City honored Texas City Veteran, Joe De Santo for his service during the Korean War by sponsoring his Honor Flight this year so Gary Watt, Events Director for Honor Flight Houston, and a veteran himself, stopped by to explain just how Honor Flight works.
Honor Flight is run completely by volunteers. No one receives a paycheck from Honor Flight and that in itself is pretty amazing. Houston sponsors four flights a year for up to 500+ veterans. They are always looking for veterans in the area who have not yet experienced an Honor Flight and there is a sense of urgency in their search.
Out of 16 million veterans who served in WWII, just under 500,000 still alive and passing away at a rate of 348 a day which creates a sense of urgency in finding and honoring those remaining. “Our mission is simple. Honor Flight Houston, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, knows that our Veteran heroes aren’t asking for recognition. It is our position that they deserve it. Please help us continue to make their dream of visiting THEIR memorial, a reality. “
The Honor Flight Network which took its first flight in 2005, is a non-profit organization providing free flights for WWII veterans to visit the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C. There are approximately 114 chapters around the US. Front Echelon Photography is honored to support the Honor Flight organization by volunteering photographic services through local Honor Flight Hubs. The following galleries chronicle several Honor Flight hubs who have flown WWII veterans to Washington, DC to visit the WWII memorial.
Each Veteran is accompanied by a guardian, usually a relative at least one generation removed from the vet. The cost to the veteran is nothing and often is covered by sponsors not unlike Texas City Rotary sponsoring Joe De Santo. The cost to sponsor a veteran is $1000. The cost for the guardian is $770. This covers all their expenses, meals and hotel stay…not a bad deal!
They are flown to Washington D.C. and Watt explained that the experience begins upon arrival at Hobby. The attention received by the Veterans is incredible. “Everything stops. People stop what they are doing, and they turn and applaud and cheer as the wheelchairs pass. It is pretty moving.” Once they arrive in DC, they visit each of the memorials – WWII, Korean, Viet Nam.
At the end of the 2017 flying season, the network had escorted over 200,000 veterans to their memorials, free of cost to the veterans. If you would like to sponsor a vet or you know of a vet who has not experience an Honor Flight go to:
Gary Watt, Event Director, Honor Flight Houston
Joe De Santo with his sons at Lone Star Flight Museum in 2016.
This was the aircraft he flew during the war.
WWII Memorial Korean War Memorial Viet Nam Memorial
