Desert Storm and Post-9/11 combat vets to travel on Old Glory Honor Flight

To commemorate the 40th mission of Old Glory Honor Flight in June, 40 post-9/11 and Desert Storm combat veterans will travel for free as guardians for World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans.

Guardians normally pay $500 to travel on the day-long trip to Washington, D.C., which is free to World War II, Korea and Vietnam war veterans. But for the June trip, organizers of the Oshkosh-based honor flight hub are accepting applications from combat veterans of Operation Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Given the type of organization that we have, there is an end to it at some point," Old Glory Honor Flight President Drew MacDonald said Wednesday. "Having hit 40 missions, in our opinion, is a pretty monumental milestone. We just felt it was an opportune time to bring in the younger vets so they can share and thank the older vets and get a taste of it themselves."

The 40 guardian spots will be offered to Desert Storm and post-9/11 veterans by random drawing from applicants who served in country during those conflicts. A special application form for the guardian positions will be available on Old Glory Honor Flight's website starting Monday.

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Those guardians will have their fee waived but will perform all of the guardian duties on the honor flight — taking care of the World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans and helping them as they visit memorials in the nation's capital. Previously some guardians on Old Glory Honor Flights have been post-9/11 and Desert Storm veterans who paid to travel as guardians.

"Our feeling is that those vets aren't quite ready to be honored yet but they're more than willing to honor their older comrades. This still makes it about the World War II, Korea and Vietnam vets. The desert vets want to participate but not be the center of attention," said MacDonald.

Old Glory Honor Flight stepped up fundraising efforts to offset the $20,000 in guardian fees for the 40 post-9/11 and Desert Storm veterans.

The June 7 flight leaving from the Appleton airport will take between 80 and 95 veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam to visit the memorials to those wars in Washington. Old Glory Honor Flight, one of several honor flight hubs in the state, currently has around 600 veterans from the Fox Valley and northeastern Wisconsin on its waiting list. Most are Vietnam veterans.