Special voyage

Honor flights allow WWII veterans to visit D.C.

A local nonprofit is repaying World War II veterans by taking them on a chartered flight for free to visit the National WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Honor Flight South Florida has flown more than 250 veterans to Washington. This month, 80 more will get an opportunity to fly and see the memorial.

“Over 700 World War II veterans die every day,” said Ryan Paton, who founded the organization along with a few friends. “Less than 3 percent of the veterans have seen the memorial. We need to act now; this is the least that we can do for people who saved not only the nation, but also the world.”

About 25,000 WWII veterans live in South Florida, Paton said.

“We want to do four flights per year. There are 80 veterans on each flight and 80 guardians,” he said. “The guardians pay for the trip; all the money that we raise goes to the veterans and their trip. There are also 12 medical personnel. We ensure that the veterans are taken care of every step of the way.”

The next flight is on April 25 from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

“It is fully booked, but we want people to be at the airport for the homecoming,” said Paton, who recently addressed North Lauderdale commissioners to help raise awareness. “It is quite an experience; we had as many as 4,000 people show up once for a homecoming. We are also accepting applications from veterans for the Honor Flight in May.”

The idea was conceived by Earl Morse, a retired Air Force captain. The first flight took off in May 2005 from Springfield, Ohio. Honor Flight hubs have since opened in different parts of the country, including nine in Florida.

For more information, visit Honorflightsouthflorida.org.