Mail must be taken to the office, please do not leave it at the ticket counter. Most veterans receive between 10-20 personal letters. The letters will be distributed as a SURPRISE for the veterans on their Honor Flight day. Please immediately begin collecting letters of thanks for your veteran from his or her family and friends. Stairs and elevator are located north of the ticket counter. Mail Call 11.6 Stars and Stripes Honor Flight. Or, Mail Call can be dropped off, address above, up until the week prior to the mission at the Airport Administration Office, on the 2nd floor of the Appleton International Airport 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM Monday thru Friday. Please send all the Mail Call mail in ONE LARGE ENVELOPE to:Ĭ/O "Veteran's Full Name" (not Dad, Mom or Grandpa, etc.) Please include no other items other than flat cards or letters other items will not be included in the vets' Mail Call and will need to be picked up post flight. Mail Call is due two weeks prior to the mission. Mail should be sent in one large envelope containing all of the mail to the address listed below. The family member will be asked to assist in gathering mail from family, friends, VFW members, civic groups, neighbors, church friends, or anyone else who'd like to partake by sending a card, letter or picture for their veteran. They may get an application on the website email: or by calling the Honor Flight Columbus at 61.Mail Call is a special surprise for all our veterans who fly on an Old Glory Honor Flight mission! Mail Call is made up of cards and letters from family, friends, and neighbors expressing their appreciation and thanks to our veterans and it's a nostalgic throwback to when the veteran was deployed many decades ago.įor each vet traveling on an Old Glory Honor Flight mission, we will reach out to one of the vets' family members to help us coordinate this meaningful project. MacKenzie encourages any veteran to apply who served during that time. This includes World War II Veterans, Korean War and Vietnam War as well as those who served in the gap years between wars. The main requirement to go on the Honor Flight is for veterans to have served before May 7, 1975. 94 percent of those veterans were already vaccinated. MacKenzie said that there were 1,500 veterans on the waiting list to go on flights this summer. “Everyone on the flight is required to be vaccinated, including all the volunteers who help as well as the veterans.” “The vaccines were a game changer for us to get back to almost normal,” MacKenzie said. Honor Flight Columbus Executive Director Pete MacKenzie said the Honor Flights were shut down for an entire year and then resumed this past August. “It was a long day, but it was a wonderful experience.” “They are very well organized, and everyone is very kind,” Stojkovic added. Stojkovic was amazed at the efficiency of the Honor Flight organization from the time he arrived at John Glenn Airport in Columbus at 5:30 a.m., throughout the day to the time their airplanes touched down at 9:30 p.m. “I had no idea the whole family was coming to greet me.” And behind them was all the rest of the family,” Stojkovic said. “The biggest surprise of the day was to see my grandson Wesley in his Cub Scout uniform with my granddaughter Julie. ![]() The airport homecoming was overwhelming as veterans’ families and friends crowded into the airport entryway to the music of a band of bagpipers. “I had no idea that my daughter Jenny had arranged for friends and family to send cards and letters. “The mail call was a real surprise,” Stojkovic said. Just as in the service, each veteran received a packet of mail that included letters and cards from friends and family that were sent to the Honor Flight P.O. Two big surprises were in store for Stojkovic as he returned to Columbus. “That’s what the goal of Honor Flight is - to give veterans the recognition they didn’t receive when they originally returned home from war.” “I’m so glad Allen had a good day,” Garner said. She started with Honor Flight because they were in need of EMS personnel. Garner is an EMS in Delaware County and lives in Grove City. Guardians accompany veterans, hear their stories and are a big part of their day. Garner has been an Honor Flight Guardian for five years. After giving him the pin, she placed a memorial coin in is hand and held his hand as he contemplated the wall and the loss of life in Vietnam, where he served for a year in 1969. ![]() Buses took them to the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where they watched the changing of the guard.Įveryone received a box lunch at the Air Force Memorial, then a visit to the World War II Memorial, Korean and Vietnam Veterans Memorials with dinner at the Women in Military Service Memorial.Īn emotional moment for Stojkovic was at the Vietnam Memorial Wall when his “guardian” Krista Garner placed a Vietnam Honor Flight pin on his shirt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |