Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The Land of Lincoln Honor Flight will be coming up soon. This is a flight dedicated to our Illinois veterans that allows them to go see the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The first renditions of the honor flight initially caught on in Springfield, Ohio. However, in 2009, Springfield, Illinois became a part of this as well.
The Springfield Illinois Flight, known as the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight, currently needs more participants to be able to make it happen this year.
Joan Bortolon, with the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight, told the WTAX Morning Newswatch they are looking for.
“We are always looking for veterans. Estimates are that there is about one hundred eighty thousand Vietnam era veterans living in Illinois, we’ve probably served three thousand of them. So, we have got to find the rest of them to get them signed up” Stated Bortolon.
To sign up for the Honor Flight, takes very little time, and you don’t need to dig up any former paperwork to show who you are.
“You’ll know the answers on the application and won’t need to go and dig anything up. We don’t need paperwork, we don’t need DD214’s, it is who are you, where do you live, what’s your birthdate and that’s about it. Very simple and takes maybe five minutes to fill out the application. Get it sent into us and we need we will fill in when we book you on a flight and that’s really all it takes.” Said Bortolon.
There are two types of participants, Veterans, and Guardians. The Guardians are required to help support those veterans, by assisting with wheelchairs, helping veterans on stairs or tricky surfaces, and to also help other guardians out where they may need it. It is also mandatory to have one guardian per each veteran, even if the veteran does not want or really need a guardian. If you are signing up a family member for the flight, you could also sign yourself up as a guardian and spend the day with the veteran in your family.
The Guardian’s main job is to ensure their assigned veteran also has everything they need, and that they are not hungry, or thirsty, or need to take medications, etc.
The flights coming up for this year fall on May 5, September 1, and a third flight on October 20.
For further information or to fill out application simply visit the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight Website and you can also reach out by calling 217-652-4719 or 217-473-2540
If you would like to apply the application is online. To fill out the online application for a veteran, CLICK HERE, if you would like to fill out the online Guardian application, CLICK HERE
