Samuel Ray Zimmerman
I was on the October 9th Honor Flight and want to thank you, the Guardians, all the volunteers and donors for making it possible. I would like to thank all the individuals and organizations that donated their time, effort and money, all the fund raisers, the companies that donated food and drinks and all the behind the scenes people we will never even know about. It took an incredible amount of planning, organizing and scheduling to make the trip the success that it was. And was it ever a success!
Bud Wieck
What a humbling experience it was to visit the World War II memorial at the Washington, DC, mall!
The memorial is often referred to as “the jewel of the mall!” Rightfully so. If I were to choose just one thing that really impressed me it would be the wall on the west end of the memorial. The wall is dedicated to the 400,000 Americans that died in WWII. There are 4,000 stars that well, each star commemorating 100 Americans that lost their lives.
The Honor Flight - Walter Ruegg
Years ago, when we were in our youth,
Our world was being destroyed by war.
Europe and Asia had been brutalized,
Civilization would forever be scarred!
When our free nation came under attack
We had no choice but to enter the fray.
Men and women, fifteen million strong,
Banded together to save the day!
By the grace of God and the blood of men...
- Samuel Zimmerman - Letter
- Bud Wieck - Letter
- Walter Ruegg - Poem
In 2008, The Quad Cities formed a local chapter of the Honor Flight Network, called Honor Flight of the Quad Cities (HFQC). The purpose of HFQC is to fly America's veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honoring their sacrifices.
Top priority is given to WWII and Korean Era Veterans, or any veterans with a terminal illness. The intention is to honor our local and regional heroes who were selfless in their military duty with a free trip to visit their memorials. Veterans within a 75 mile radius are encouraged to apply. The program operates on donations from organizations and individuals. Volunteers of all kinds plan and coordinate the flight event, and special guardians will be trained to help escort the veterans the day of the flight.
All honor flights depart on a non-stop charter from the Quad City International Airport to Washington, D.C., and return the same evening at approximately 10:00 p.m. HFQC plans on conducting a series of flights in 2012, but their dates have not yet been set. When they are set, they will appear on this website.
WWII and Korean Veterans interested in applying for the trip, as well as interested donors and volunteers, are encouraged to download an application by clicking on the “Applications” button on the home page of this website. HFQC kindly requests that no calls be made to check on the status of an application, once it has been sent. Applicants are called by volunteers of HFQC approximately 4 - 8 weeks prior to the set honor flight dates, to let them know that they have been selected to attend the next scheduled flight. All applications are dated in the order they are received.
Attn: We are now taking Guardian Applications
Honor Flight #'s & Dates
#22 April 25, 2013
#23 May 23, 2013
#24 August 29, 2013
#25 October 3, 2013
#26 October 31, 2013
Bob Morrison talks about Honor Flight
