Merrill’s Jack Hofele will be taking off Oct. 6 on the Never Forgotten Honor Flight, thanks to a sponsorship from Merrill Walmart and Central Beer. A cooperative effort between the retailer and Miller beer distributor raised $500 to cover the cost of Jack’s trip to Washington, D.C.
Jack, a veteran of the Korean War, said his daughter-in-law, Mary, had been pestering him to go on a flight. After talking to friends who had gone, he decided to give in and go. He put his name on the Honor Flight list about a year ago. Jack said he’s never been to Washington, D.C. and he’s interested in seeing all the monuments that are part of the Honor Flight tour.
This will be the 18th Honor Flight from the Central Wisconsin hub. So far, 1,565 area veterans have taken the free flight to the nation’s capital.
“Every single one of them is glad they went,” said Jim Campbell, Merrill native and Honor Flight coordinator. “Family and veterans who have gone are our best disciples for the Honor Flight.”
The Central Wisconsin hub of the Honor Flight opened in 2009. Priority has been given to the oldest veterans, those from World War II; followed by Korean War and Vietnam War veterans. The goal of the Central Wisconsin hub is to continue operating until all veterans of those wars have had the opportunity to make the flight.
The Oct. 6 flight will carry one WWII veteran, one Vietnam veteran and the rest are Korean War veterans.
Campbell said the generosity of the local communities in supporting the Honor Flight has been mind boggling.
“We have never done a fund raiser,” he said. “We put out four flights a year and it costs just shy of $85,000 for a trip, which breaks down to about $500 for every veteran.”
It took the Central Wisconsin hub five months to raise its first $50,000. Now, that much money will come in a single week.
“In the last seven days, we’ve received over $50,000,” Campbell said. “It is phenomenal. We have received over $2 million in four and a half years. Without this phenomenal community support, we wouldn’t fly.”
The Never Forgotten Honor Flight is a one-day round trip to Washington, D.C. Veterans tour the various war memorials and monuments in the capital. The flight leaves early in the morning and the veterans return late that same night. All food and transportation is free to the veterans.
Each veteran is assigned a chaperone, who pay their own way on the Honor Flight. The chaperone’s duty is to make sure the veteran has an enjoyable trip.
“We have a wait list of over 300 people signed up to go and pay $500 to take care of a complete stranger,” Campbell said.