The Honor Flight

Picture the end of World War II with the troops coming home. Men, and some women, mostly in their twenties and early thirties, still young and ready to pick up their lives or make a new start. Some went to college on the G.I. Bill, and some took up jobs they had left. Families were reunited and children often met a daddy they had not seen at all or not in a long time.

These military members , glad to be home, still carried in their minds and hearts, the memories of comrades who would not be returning but, not to be forgotten by these Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and members of the Army Air Corps, with whom they had served.

The Honor Flight Program was conceived by Earl Morse, a Physician's Assistant and retired Air Force Captain. Upon his retirement from the Air Force in 1998, he was hired by the Department of veterans Affairs to treat veterans in a clinic located in Springfield, Ohio. He treated these veterans for twenty-seven years and became friends with them.

Then, in May 2004 the World War II Memorial was completed and dedicated in Washington D.C. some fifty-nine years after the end of that war which ended in August 1945. Earl discovered that a good many of his patients, World War ll veterans, were not physically nor financially able to make the trip to D.C. to personally witness this tribute to them by their government. By this time those young men who had returned home from war in 1945 were eighty-plus years but would love to have seen the Monument.

That was when Earl Morse decided something had to be done. There had to be a way for these vets to see the monument in D.C. Things began to happen when Earl, a qualified pilot himself, and member of an aero flight club at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, flew the first veterans to Washington D. C. in December 2004. The veterans were grateful and impressed with the Monument as well as the effort expended by Morse in getting them there.

Earl, at an aero club safety meeting in January of 2005, addressed some 150 pilots and fellow members requesting that they consider being in a volunteer program to fly veterans to the Memorial. The only stipulation was that the Vets pay nothing and the pilots act as their escort during that time. That day eleven pilots stepped forward and volunteered and the Honor Flight was born. The response from both the Vets and the pilots was overwhelming and it soon became necessary to use commercial airlines that could transport some forty veterans and their Guardians at once. In 2006 some three hundred veterans were transported from their particular area. The word began to spread. Today, fortyfour states out of the fifty have adopted the Honor Flight program. It is interesting to note that Southwest Airlines donated thousands of free tickets to further the program.

Tehachapi man, Tom Stenson, is kept busy with our local Honor Flight Program. He works closely with Lili Marsh, who is the Kern County Honor Flight Hub (branch) Director. The Tehachapi Hub is a part of the Kern County Hub and includes Acton and California City. Approximately thirty Tehachapi veterans have taken part in the flight. Tom arranges a monthly breakfast, free of charge, for all veterans. These monthly meetings are important to keep in touch. The most recent location for the breakfast is St. Malachy Church, McMullan Hall.

Tom has also acted as a Guardian on the flight to D. C. Each veteran has a guardian. This is a trip that must be planned most carefully, even to the presence of two EMTs on each flight. The trip includes a sixty-four hour time span with every veteran cared for and shown the Monument as well as other sights. Those who report their experiences say that every facet concerning the trip is wonderful. The camaraderie between the visiting vets brings back visions of younger days. Although the focus began with World War II veterans, the Korean and Vietnam veterans as well, are being included in the flight.

There have been 900 veterans from Kern County with approximately thirty from Tehachapi taking part in the program as well. As Earl Morse stipulated some years ago, the Veterans' trip is still free of charge. The year will finish with flights in August, September, October and November.

During the Memorial Day Service in the local park last May, I sat by Don Branske who spent twenty years in Uncle Sam's Navy with duty on destroyers. Don was also on the Honor Flight in May and deems it a great experience. He recalls the plane landing at Annapolis and the Cadets coming out to meet them. Don grinned and said, " New Cadets greeting an 'old salt'!" The beginning of a perfect trip. His scrap book testifies to the momentous occasion.

In order to further this program and keep it going, Tom Stenson told of a raffle of a Jeep Wrangler Oscar Mike Series, donated by Bakersfield Jeep. Oscar Mike, that stands for "On the move." The proceeds , naturally, go towards the Honor Flight of Kern County. Tom can tell you how to get a ticket. Just call him at 823-1036. The drawing is in November.

The Honor Flight is one of those heart warming events that takes place out of the citizens taking hold of an idea and keeping it moving. The American Way.