It's a small effort that's taken off.
The Honor Flight Network started as a fundraising effort in 2005 to send veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the WWII memorial.
Now, the initiative has grown wings and companies such as Boeing are doing their part to make sure veterans are getting the thank you they deserve -- most recently giving a $20,000 grant to the Alamo Honor Flight in Texas through the Employees Community Fund of The Boeing Co., MySanAntonio.com reports.
According to Honor Flight, an average of 900 World War II veterans are lost everyday. Since its inception, the The Honor Flight Networ has transported more than 80,000 Vietnam, Korea and WWII veterans to visit their memorials, according to the website.
“We're honored to be able to sponsor trip number five of the Alamo Honor Flight to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.,” Rick Garza, treasurer of the Community Fund, told the news source. “Many of Boeing's employees are veterans and we appreciate the service of Alamo Honor Flight.”
For vets like Eugene Kessler who served in World War II, the trip comes with its own honors. He and 99 other veterans from Columbia, S.C. will visit their memorials, thanks to the Honor Flight Network of South Carolina, wltx.com reports.
"I don't know if I have done as much as other people, but I was there and I was involved in the fighting," Kessler told the news source, adding "I appreciate people having respect for us and the things we did."
Feeling inspired? Get involved with the Honor Flight Network, here.