Sign Up For Our Newsletter
The History of Patriot Flight, Inc. as told by Founder, Bill Peak
After checking on costs to charter a bus, hotels, etc., I thought that long bus ride would not be good for men and women in their 80s and early 90s. I had to think of another way.
My Daughter Bett Daloia, who lives in Webster, NY, saw a TV clip about an organization in Springfield, Ohio that was flying veterans to DC free of charge. She was able to record the clip on Good Morning America on a Sunday morning. She sent the tape to me.
I then contacted Earl Morse of the Honor Flight Network, Inc, in Springfield. I decided that was what I wanted to do. Earl walked me through all the in and outs of organizing a drive to inform veterans in Rensselaer County and surrounding area of the plan and to start a fund-raising drive. One of my friends arranged for an interview with our local newspaper, The Record, of Troy, NY and from that news article a local TV station, WRGB of Schenectady, interviewed me and the clip was on the 11:00 PM and 5:30 PM news.
When the word started to spread, I organized a board of dedicated people to help and the fund-raising effort was underway. We have applications for the World War II veterans and Guardians available; a call to those listed on the contact page is is all that is necessary. We have made flights in April, May, September and have one planned for October. As funds become available we will again make flights in the Spring of 2009. Our flights go to Baltimore Md. where we are met by a deluxe motor coach to take us to Washington D.C.. We provide Patriot flight collared shirts, back packs, cameras, ponchos, lunch and visits to the several memorials. Dinner is in the Baltimore area before the flight home. There no cost to the Veteran.
This effort has taken many hours of planning and without all the volunteer help it would not be possible. Continued support from the community would lead to more flights in the future.
The History of Honor Flight Our Parent National Organization
The inaugural Honor Flight took place in May of 2005. Six small planes flew out of Springfield, Ohio taking twelve World War II veterans on a visit to the memorial in Washington, DC. In August of 2005, an ever-expanding waiting list of veterans led our transition to commercial airline carriers with the goal of accommodating as many veterans as possible. Partnering with HonorAir in Hendersonville, North Carolina, we formed the "Honor Flight Network." Today, we continue working aggressively to expand our programs to other cities across the nation.