Contact: Vince Hope, Vice President
Honor Flight Rochester, Inc.
[email protected]
WROC TV-8 Documentary to Air this Veteran’s Day
Rochester, New York. In the dark of a 5:30 morning in mid-October, ten men assembled outside the security glass at the Greater Rochester International Airport. A few were in wheelchairs; all showed the pace of men in their mid to late 80’s. They were beginning a journey that was to last a brief 30 hours, but which would take them back 65 years, to events and memories of their youth. These men were all WWII Veterans and their journey was Rochester’s Inaugural “Honor Flight” – an expedition for them to visit the Memorial built just 4 years ago in their honor on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
Their entourage of 23 included family and volunteer “guardians” to assist and speed the journey, but there also to share in the very personal moments that lie ahead. Among the volunteers – a sheriff’s deputy, a registered nurse, sons and daughters, and four founding members of Honor Flight Rochester, an organization preparing to take hundreds of Veterans on similar Honor Flights in 2009 and beyond. A guest leader and mentor had arrived from Ohio, Clarice Morse, whose husband founded the national Honor Flight Network in 2005.
Also on board that morning were Meghan Backus and Jay Gardner of TV-8 / Fox News, prepared to meet these men, tell their stories and witness the celebration of their heroism and sacrifice those many decades ago. You are invited to share in their adventure and celebration as WROC airs the story of Rochester’s Inaugural Honor Flight this Veteran’s Day, Tuesday November 11 during their 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. news hours.
Live in a studio audience that evening will be the Honored flyers themselves, their guardian travelers, and scores of other area Veterans of WWII, assembled for this premier documentary viewing.
We invite you to tune in to TV-8 at 5:00pm on Veterans Day to join the community-wide celebration, as we honor the great veterans of our Greatest Generation. Tell family and friends. Throw a Veteran’s Day TV party. Post a poster at work, at your church, at your school. Drop a note to your organization’s membership. Fly with us – on Honor Flight.
Honor Flight Rochester, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit affiliate of the national Honor Flight Network, created solely to honor America’s Veterans for their many sacrifices.
“We fly our heroes to Washington DC to visit and reflect together at their memorials.”
All Honored Veterans travel for FREE, in the order in which they apply. Current priority is given to our most senior veterans – WWII survivors – with immediacy for veterans of any generation with a terminal illness. Honor Flights are funded entirely by the local private community. We accept no government funding, nor partisan sponsorships. We do seek the support of individual benefactors, foundations and corporate partners, even as we develop broad donor programs with schools, churches, community and civic organizations. We do NOT accept donations from WWII Veterans. They have given so much already. It is time we honor them.
$450 sponsors one Rochester area Veteran on a day and a half excursion: round trip airfare, a full motor coach day in Washington D.C., all meals, beverages, 4-star overnight accommodation, Sunday buffet brunch and necessary personal support (wheelchairs, oxygen, etc.). Honor Flight does not provide medical care. To DONATE please visit our website at www.HonorFlightRochester.org
To apply to fly with us as a Veteran or supporting Guardian, to volunteer for a working committee, inquire about sponsorship opportunities, or make a direct contribution please visit our website or send a note to Honor Flight Rochester, Inc., P.O. Box 23581, Rochester, NY 14693.
