Guardians,
Our mission to take our honored veterans to Washington D.C. to see the memorials built in their honor has always been one with an inherent amount of risk. Many of our veterans have chronic health conditions and/or mobility issues which make travel difficult. Honor Flight was specifically conceived to overcome those difficulties and allow our heroes to fly. Recent events with the COVID-19 virus, commonly known as “coronavirus,” has forced us to look at those risks.
Our veterans fall into the high risk category as established by the Centers for Disease Control. Veterans Honor Flight has already established extra procedures to protect our veterans, guardians, and staff but we believe more action is necessary. The safety of our veterans is our top priority.
On Wednesday, March 10, 2020 Honor Flight Network, the national organization which governs Honor Flight hubs enacted a ban on Honor Flight trips through April 30, 2020. While this ban does not directly affect Flight 7, HFN has stated they may extend this ban. Due to the complex logistical challenge each flight is, the Board of Directors has decided to take action.
Flight 7, originally planned for May 5, 2020, will now fly on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. Guardian training will now be held on Saturday, May 16, 2020 at Veterans Airport. Veteran medical evaluations will now be held on Saturday, May 23, 2020. The pre-flight luncheon will now be held on Saturday, June 6, 2020 at Community of Faith Church in Marion. Please note this is a location change for the pre-flight lunch.
This change was necessary to ensure the safety of our veterans.
We are preparing to call our veterans on flight 7. This email will reach you prior to the veterans being aware of the change. All guardians should reach out to their veterans and inform them of the change. Due to the extreme instability of the COVID-19 situation, we are holding off mailings until May 1. On or about May 1 we will mail updated information to all veterans, including the new dates for medical evaluations and the pre-flight luncheon.
Our web site will contain the most up to date information regarding flight rescheduling.
Due to the fluid situation, please do not call our office with questions. If you have questions, email me at evan@veteranshonorflight.org and I will reply to your email as quickly as possible.
Thank you for serving our veterans.
Sincerely,
Evan R. Youngblood
Board Secretary
