Honor Flight to resume flying local vets to DC

Waitlist hits nearly 700 due to COVID-19 pause

By Jacob Pasquale | For Manor Ink

Livingston Manor, NY – Honor Flight is an organization that flies veterans from around the country to Washington, DC, to see the monuments and memorials of the wars they fought in. The organization has hubs all over the country, and the local one is the Hudson Valley Honor Flight (HVHF). However, this year, they will be doing things a little differently.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they have had to put their flights on hold. This fall they are returning, with a flight on Oct. 9, leaving from Stewart International Airport, and another on Nov. 6, out of Westchester County Airport. The October flight will take 80-plus veterans, and the November flight will take around 70.

Signs acknowledging service

There are currently 675 veterans in the Hudson Valley on the waitlist for a flight. In the meantime, while these veterans await their flight, HVHF has decided to honor them by creating and delivering lawn signs to be put outside their homes.

“The veterans are just thrilled. It was great to be out there in the community again and doing something for our veterans,” said HVHF Executive Director Jennifer DeFrancesco.

Veterans from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War and the time in between these wars are eligible for an Honor Flight. World War II and Korean War veterans receive top priority, as they are of older generations. Terminally ill veterans who served at any time are also eligible and take higher priority as well.

For the upcoming flights in the fall, the veterans who were supposed to go in the spring of 2020 will have the opportunity to go first. However, there is an abundance of veterans on the waitlist and new applications are still coming in.

“There’s still quite a lot on our waitlist, which is why we’re so excited to get back to that,” said DeFrancesco.

Unlike the flights of previous years, this year they will not have a meet-and-greet a few days prior to the flights. This is due to pandemic safety concerns.

All participants in this year’s flights will be required to have received the Covid-19 vaccine, including veterans and guardians.

A local vet on the flight list

One local veteran who is on the waitlist for an Honor Flight is Bob Smith. He served during the Korean War. He was drafted, and jokes about how his twin brother was declined by the army because his feet were too big (a size 14-and-half shoe). However, since they are not identical twins, he was allowed in.

“It was a million dollars worth of experience, but you wouldn’t do it again for a million dollars,“ Smith said about his time serving.

Smith has been on the waitlist for a flight for two years. He still does not know when his flight will happen.

Accompanying Honor Flight veterans are their guardians. Each veteran is joined by a guardian who makes sure they have a safe trip.

Vets are also aided by volunteers. Unless they are also guardians, volunteers do not go on the flights. However, they do help out with meet-and-greets, fundraisers and with distributing shirts and lanyards on flight day.

HVHF volunteer Jan Carlson of Livingston Manor, spoke of her first flight experience. “It was the most rewarding, memorable, awesome experience of my life,” she said.

Manor Ink would like to thank Honor Flight for all they do for our veterans and also thank our veterans for their service.