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Honor Flight Rochester Woody Mench Statement

See also Daily Messenger article from 11.13.13 at the link below:
Daily Messenger Article From 11.13.13

Honor Flight Rochester Co-Founder Col. Edwin E. Mench Passes Away
Organization and local veterans lose a friend

ROCHESTER, NY – United States Air Force Col. (Ret.) Edwin E. “Woody” Mench had a passion for the military and all veterans. He was especially concerned for veterans being remembered for their service and sacrifices. So when the opportunity arose to set up an Honor Flight hub in Rochester, Col. Mench volunteered. The co-founder of the Honor Flight Rochester (HFR) hub passed away Thursday, Nov. 7.

“We are saddened by the loss of our president and chairman, Edwin “Woody” Mench,” said HFR board member Peter J. Glennon, Esq. “We certainly are a much better community with Woody having been with us. The veterans who have taken an Honor Flight with us lost a buddy who they may not have known they had. But he knew about them.”

“Woody’s first concern for the organization was always about us making the veteran’s trip as special as we could,” said John Burns, vice president for operations, HFR.

In July 2008, Col. Mench co-founded HFR, which is a hub in the national Honor Flight Network.
Col. Mench served as its first treasurer, third president and chairman of the board of directors.

“What an honor to be selected as president of Honor Flight Rochester,” Col. Mench said in 2011 when he was named president. “I have a passion for what we do and the audience we serve. I really believe we (Rochester) are well at the top of the 100 hubs.”

HFR has now escorted 1,492 WWII, Korean and Vietnam War veterans from Western NY to visit their Memorials in Washington D.C. More than 400 veterans are waiting for an HFR trip. In 2012, Col. Mench helped Honor Flight Syracuse launch its program.

Col. Mench was born in Philadelphia, PA. He received his B.S. degree in Business Administration from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. He also received a commission in the USAF through the Reserve Officers Training Corps. He served on active duty from 1956 through 1960. He earned his pilot wings in 1957. He joined the reserves and remained for 26 years flying a variety of aircraft. Col. Mench achieved the rank of colonel and was the Operations Group Commander in the 914th Air Reserve Wing based at the Niagara Falls Air Force Base. He retired from the USAF in 1986. He was a member of the Military Officer Association of America and served as its New York State president from 2005 to 2009. He worked for Xerox Corporation from 1965 to 1993.

He was predeceased by his first wife Margaret Nichols Mench. He is survived by their three children. He is also survived by his second wife Marion and her children. Col. Mench has 10 grandchildren.

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1,000 Veterans Have Made an Honor Flight Rochester Trip

>> Honor Flight Rochester’s first veteran will welcome them home
>> 150th anniversary commemoration of Taps at Arlington National Cemetery

ROCHESTER, NY – When Honor Flight Rochester’s Mission 22 lifts off Saturday morning May 19 onboard will be the 1,000th veteran to make an Honor Flight Rochester (HFR) trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the World War II Memorial. Veterans return to the Greater Rochester International Airport Sunday, May 20.

“We treating all of the veterans as number 1,000 because during World War II they all pulled together to defeat the Axis forces and secure the freedom of the world,” said HFR President Edwin “Woody” Mench.

Greeting the returning veterans will World War II veteran Dick Bedford, the first veteran to fly with HFR. Bedford, 90, flew on HFR Mission 1 in October 2008 – the “Lone Eagle” flight. Bedford was a P-47 fighter pilot who flew 63 missions before being shot down June 12, 1944 – six days after D-Day (June 6, 1944). He lived with a French farm family for two months until he was captured and sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

AirTran #32 arrives at approximately 11:12 a.m. on Sunday May 20. Returning veterans should be coming “through the glass” at around 11:45 a.m. and the 45-minute welcome home ceremony should start between noon and 12:15 p.m. Mike Giardino, director of Aviation for the Greater Rochester International Airport, is the keynote speaker.

In addition to visiting the WWII Memorial, HFR veterans stop at Arlington National Cemetery. There, they may be treated to some additional activity as this is the 150th anniversary commemoration of Taps at Arlington National Cemetery (http://taps150.org/).

HFR Mission 23 is schedule for June 16 – 17. Additional HFR Missions are planned for the fall of 2012.

HFR (www.honorflightrochester.org) – one of 100 established hubs in the national Honor Flight Network – is a not-for-profit, fully-volunteer organization with a goal of taking every World War II veteran who otherwise would or could not go, to visit and reflect together at Washington D.C. Memorials built in their honor. The two-day trip is free to all World War II veterans and to veterans of any era who suffer a terminal illness. Rochester’s flying season is April to October. Some 1,000 veterans have now flown from Rochester since the local organization began full scale flights in early 2009.

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More than 200 WWII Veterans and Guardians, who have flown on Rochester Honor Flights, gathered to celebrate the organization’s First Year success at Legacy Clover Blossom tonight. Emotions and energy ran high as travelers reunited from the three Honor Flights to date funded entirely by private community donations.

The perfect sunset evening on the Legacy’s open courtyard was filled with Len Hawley’s swing tunes of the 1940’s and lively patriotic drum and bugle medleys from Tom Allen’s Prime Time Brass. Veterans shared personal memorabilia, photos and stories, while enjoying gourmet desserts prepared by chefs from the Legacy senior community. Other residents gathered on balconies above the courtyard, adding to the festive occasion.

Dignitaries gathered to fete and greet Rochester’s WWII heroes included Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn, retired Major General Norbert Rappl who commanded Rochester’s 98th Reserve Division, Brighton Town Board member and retired Marine Colonel Jim Vogel, along with the New York State President of the Military Officers Association of America, retired Air Force Colonel Edwin “Woody” Mench. Joining the front row dignitaries were two veteran honorees, Air Force Colonel Phil Serafine, and State Supreme Court Judge Donald Mark, both of whom flew on the June Honor Flight. A formal program began as a Marine Color Guard “posted the Colors” and noted vocalist Myron Kowal presented an emotional singing of the National Anthem.

Welcoming ceremonies featured presentation of two 2009 Legacy Independent Senior Living Awards given annually to individuals and organizations for improving the quality of life of Rochester’s senior citizens. This year’s first award went to Meghan Backus and Jay Gardner of WROC TV-8 / Fox News for their documentary coverage of Rochester’s maiden Honor Flight, entitled “Heroes Among Us” which aired before a live studio audience on Veterans Day, 2008.

In presenting the award Paul Foti, Senior Vice President of Legacy Communities, noted that WROC’s recurring Honor Flight coverage has set a “foundation and tone of support from the community which has allowed these hundreds gathered here today to experience the flight of a lifetime.”

A second 2009 Legacy Award was presented to Honor Flight President Vince Hope, for his “hours of dedication that have gone into building an Honor Flight organization here in Rochester,” said Don Riley, Legacy’s Marketing Vice President and Master of Ceremonies. The local Honor Flight is an affiliate of a four-year old national program that flies WWII Veterans for free to visit the Memorial built in their honor in 2004 on the national mall in Washington D.C. Honor Flight’s goal, according to Hope, is to “take every WWII veteran who otherwise would or could not travel at this stage in their lives. The trip is a public celebration of their heroic efforts six decades ago.”

“Think about it,” said Hope. “They were just kids, and they saved the world. We owe everything we have today to this generation.”

While celebrating the reunion of 125 Veterans who have flown along with support personnel in year one, Hope indicated that another 340 applicants are waiting to travel. Tentative plans to fly 175 of those veterans on 3 additional Honor Flights from Rochester this fall, were solidified during the evening when younger attendees and one anonymous donor funded the third flight with on the spot contributions. Each flight costs upwards of $30,000 with each Veteran’s seat on the 40-hour Honor Flight costing $450.

Flights are now scheduled for Sept. 26-27, Oct 17-18 and Oct 31-Nov 1. Veterans and their Guardians are chosen in the order in which they applied, and notification phone calls will be going to the next 175 WWII Veterans in the weeks ahead, according to local leaders.

Those leaders were themselves the center of attention, as Hope announced an expanded leadership team which has been formed to grow the organization into year two. Joining that team are retired RN Rosemary Ann Roth (Veterans), retired Monroe County Sheriff Major Dick Schaff (Flight Operations), Anna Alger Executive Director of Legacy at the Fairways in Victor (Community Outreach), and Faculty Practice Program Coordinator at Rochester General Hospital, RN Kathleen Dietz (Volunteers). Michele Unger RN, DNP has joined the Executive team as Secretary and joins continuing officers Kathleen Wall of Geneseo (VP – Quality and Process Development), Woody Mench of Pittsford (Treasurer), Jeff and Kim Gould of Webster (Development & Major Donors), and Peter Glennon, Niagara Air Guard flyer and attorney at Nixon Peabody.

Pointing to the strength of the volunteer leader team, Hope tipped his hat to the past but focused clearly on the future. “All of these capable folks have emerged from our flights together. And they all understand that a hidden gift for our senior-most veterans is having found one another in Honor Flight. It begins gloriously with the Veterans but infects all our generations who travel with them.”

“Yet it is the talent assembled here that will allow us to grow into 2010,” said Hope. With another 6 Honor Flights anticipated in 2010 to fly an expected 350 more Veterans, growth in finances and volunteer horsepower are central concerns, according to the President. “We can’t begin to meet the goals set forth without even greater community funding and recurring volunteer energy as more and more families experience the life changing aspects of an Honor Flight.”

Tipping his hat to sponsoring partners who contribute significantly to that energy, Hope joined the festive throngs of 85 and 90 year-old honorees, noting “These Legacy folks know something about puttin’ on the Ritz!”

Airport Reception Slated for 55 WWII Veterans & their Guardians

Rochester, New York. The “Honor Flight,” which first formed in Rochester in 2008, lifts off its first whole airplane this weekend, flying 55 area WWII Veterans to visit the Memorial built in their honor on the Mall in Washington DC. Flying out early Saturday morning, 100 travelers will make up the first of several major flights slated for the 2009 travel year.

They return to the Greater Rochester International Airport on Sunday, May 3 at 2:15 pm to a large Welcome Home Celebration, the applause of friends and family, a military color guard as well as surprise speakers to honor members of Rochester’s “Greatest Generation.” The public is invited to join the celebration slated from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. On hand will be young area students who have sponsored great-grandparent heroes through school fund-raisers. Veterans will be available at the airport for interviews with local press.

The mission of Honor Flight is to fly America’s Veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built and dedicated to honor their sacrifices and service. The goal is to fly every Veteran who wants to go but who, for any variety of reasons, would not. Flights are free to WWII Veterans and those of any era who suffer a terminal illness. Local Rochester volunteers provide logistics and arrangements, with financing coming entirely from the local community. Last fall Rochester flew its first flight and prepared plans for now in 2009 to fly more than 300 local WWII Veterans who are currently registered to go.

Vince Hope of Honor Flight Rochester said, “These trips are all about soldiers going out shoulder to shoulder, sharing this experience, together with men, and women, who find common bond in the sacrifices they made 6 decades ago – when they were just kids.” He recently told a veteran audience, “You land home after just two days with these new, deeply bonded friendships, and all of you, 20 years younger.”

Come celebrate the very young “Greatest Generation.”

AirTran Flight #486 is scheduled to land Sunday at 2:15 pm on Concourse A with more than 100 Honor Flight travelers aboard. A continuing celebration is slated for the International Reception Room, on the lower level.

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.

Contact: Vince Hope, Vice President
Honor Flight Rochester, Inc.
[email protected]

WWII Veterans to Visit their Memorial in Washington D.C.

Rochester, New York. In twelve short weeks dreams have become reality. On Memorial Day 2008 a public appeal was first heard for Rochester to join “Honor Flight” – the national movement to fly our country’s oldest veterans to visit their WWII Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Just prior to July 4th a group of volunteers announced the formation of Honor Flight Rochester, with the goal of taking hundreds, rather than handfuls, of local veterans to see the memorial built in 2004 to honor their heroism.

Today, founding board members announce Rochester’s inaugural Honor Flight will be scheduled to fly from Monroe County International Airport on Oct. 18, 2008. “With only our grass roots efforts, public donations and support now allow us to schedule a first flight of 10 area veterans this fall,” announced President Kathleen Wall. “We would love to fly 20 or 25 of our heroes on this first excursion as we get our organization off the ground. But to do that, we would need additional and immediate funds. All of our honored veterans travel free.”

Support of $450 for one veteran covers round trip airfare, a day-long bus excursion to all the major memorials – WWII, Viet Nam, Korea, the Marine’s Iwo Jima, and the newest Air Force memorial – hotel accommodations for a Saturday night, all meals, and the necessary support service to ensure a safe and healthy trip for men and women aged 82 and older. Each honored veteran will be accompanied by an able-bodied Guardian, who contributes to his or her own travel expenses.

“The national President of Honor Flight has expressed interest in joining us on this inaugural flight, and with local media as well, our entourage for 10 veterans and 10 guardians involves planning for 25 people,” explained Wall. “But we are eager to take up to 50 people on this maiden trip. Our highest priority is once-in-a-lifetime experience for as many veterans as possible, before tackling the larger challenges that lie ahead.”

Those larger challenges involve planning for more than 200 area veterans who have registered for flights in the 8 weeks since the organization went live with its website at www.HonorFlightRochester.org. Guardian applications from the website now number more than 75. Those numbers grow daily, and organizers believe registrations will climb steeply again with a first successful trip this fall.

Plans call for ambitious Honor Flights beginning next spring, when the national program begins its 2009 flying season in April. “We plan this winter to expand our fund raising efforts and local partnerships to ramp up processes and fill hundreds of Honor Flight seats in 2009,” said Wall.

She urges the public to visit their website and welcomes new applications from other area veterans, inquiries from volunteers – both as Guardian travelers and those with skills and interest to help build the organization – but especially welcomed are private donations, of any size.

Pledges are accepted on the website but contributions may be sent directly to Honor Flight Rochester, Inc., P.O. Box 23581, Rochester, NY 14693.

Contact: Vince Hope, Vice President
Honor Flight Rochester, Inc.
[email protected]

Veterans’ Welcome Home Celebration Set for June 22

Rochester, New York. Honor Flight, the private not-for-profit organization dedicated to flying WWII veterans to visit their memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. announces the addition of Rochester, NY as the newest of its 72 community “hubs” across the country.

Begun in 2005 with six private planes ferrying 12 Honored WWII veterans, the national Network is working now in 2008 to fly up to 1,000 veterans and their “guardians” each and every week through November, the culmination of this year’s flying season.

The formation of a hub in Rochester “will allow us to take hundreds of area vets to see the Memorial built in their honor, rather than the handful that have been privileged to travel so far,” explained Kathleen Wall, founding President of Honor Flight Rochester. Kathleen and her husband Patrick, of Geneseo, experienced Honor Flight with her father, uncle and several veteran friends this past April, and arrived home energized to expand the opportunity to all Rochester veterans.

“But the news isn’t about us, it’s about our heroes – our mothers and fathers – who sacrificed in the 1940’s so that we could enjoy the lives we lead today,” said Wall. “And the news is about their memorial and our simple way of saying thanks by helping those who otherwise would never see the magnificent monument built in their honor.”

Ten Rochesterians are on an Honor Flight this weekend, after a year on the national waiting list. They return to Rochester International Airport Sunday June 22, on AirTran #486 scheduled for arrival at 1:40 p.m. Six WWII veterans will be arriving home accompanied by 4 guardians.

“We celebrate our formation,” said Wall, “by inviting the public to join us at the airport Sunday for a heroes homecoming. We hope entire families can be there. Our gratitude should be shared and felt by all generations. What better way to begin Rochester’s own Honor Flight.”

Members of the new local Honor Flight Board expect to be joined by members of American Legion and VFW posts, other veteran’s and community groups and their families. Also on hand will be two WWII vets who have flown on Honor Flights earlier this year and know the thrill of the experience. Tom Hope of Brighton traveled with his son Vince as guardian in April. Norman Bachman from Irondequoit just made the trip two weeks ago on the maiden flight with a newly formed hub in Buffalo/Niagara, where he was accompanied by the founder of Honor Flight, Earl Morse of Springfield Ohio.

Other founding Rochester Board members besides the Walls, and the younger Hope, include Jeff and Kim Gould, Bette Daloia and Ron Pettengill, all of Webster; Peter Glennon of Brighton and Ed “Woody” Mench of Pittsford. The HonorFlightRochester.org website will be going live shortly and the new organization is now opening its doors for veteran travel applications, donations and sponsoring partnerships. Free Honor Flights are made available to all area WWII Veterans on a first come, first served basis, and to veterans of any age who may suffer from a terminal illness. Inquiries should be directed to [email protected].

To augment Sunday’s event coverage, news organizations can reserve a photo cd of the Hope’s Honor Flight in April with an advanced phone call.