COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — With its latest mission Thursday, Honor Flight Columbus has now taken 10,000 veterans to Washington D.C. to see memorials in honor of the wars they served in.
The trip is free for veterans. Thursday was the nonprofit’s 136th mission. The concept was started in Ohio by Earl Morse, founder of Honor Flight and cofounder of Honor Flight Network. The retired Air Force captain wanted to make sure as many World War II veterans as possible got to see the memorial in the nation’s capital. So in 2005, he and other volunteer pilots took 12 veterans on small planes.
“If this country felt it was important enough for them to have a memorial, then we at Honor Flight believe it’s just as important they get to experience their memorial,” Morse said.
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The program has since grown and taken off. Almost 20 years later, chartered commercial planes and volunteer guardians are used for the missions. They also take Korean War and Vietnam War veterans, and Morse said they’ll keep taking others as times change.