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Living Life After 50
November 2024 Buckmaster Honoring Service Members See Page 6
Elko Edition REaching ElkhaRt, kosciusko, noblE and lagRangE countiEs
Vol. 37, No. 9
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BOARDING THE HONOR FLIGHT — Cold War Air Force Veteran Ross Deardorff, right, boards his Honor Flight. Honor Flights Northeast Indiana has helped over 4,000 Veterans travel to see their war memorial.
ARLINGTON CEMETERY — Vietnam Army Veteran Mac Miesse, left, and Vietnam Coast Guard Tony Zickgraff, right, participate in a ceremony at Arlington Cemetery, one of the tour stops for guests on an Honor Flight. All photos provided by Honor Flight Northeast Indiana.
HONO ONOR R FLIGHTS
heal and honor honor veterans veterans
By MARISSA SWEATLAND Staff Writer
“Honor Flight is a great and healing experience for our veterans,” Cathy Berkshire, president of Honor Flight Northeast Indiana, declared. “They get a chance to tell their stories to their guardians and talk with other veterans about their experiences.” The local organization completes four Honor Flights per year, transporting an average of 340 Veterans per year. Honor Flight is a non-profit organization that flies veterans to Washington D.C. to see the memorials built in their honor. “I encourage all of the veterans to reach out and touch their memorial,” Berkshire explained. “It is a chance to say goodbye to their brothers in arms that they lost during their service.”
In its early stages, Honor Flight was formed to fly World War II veterans to Washington D.C. to see the, at the time, newly constructed war memorial. “We now take any veteran that wore the uniform and received an Honorable Discharge,” Berkshire clarified. “This is a free trip for any veteran that wore the uniform and was Honorably Discharged.” The trip still includes a stop at the World War II Memorial, but also includes stops at: the Marine Corps Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Korean Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, FDR Memorial, the Women in Military Service Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. “Our itinerary changes from time to time, but we try to include as many memorials as we can,” Berkshire declared. Berkshire is no stranger to
service. She has strong military ties through family members who served during World War II. She has been involved with the organization since March 2009 and joined the board a few years later. “I serve our veterans in memory of loved ones that served in the military and in honor of loved ones that have served and are still living,” Berkshire explained. To be considered for an Honor Flight, veterans can submit an application online or submit a paper application. Once the veteran has an application on file, the organization completes a medical review and is accepted into the database. The organization selects veterans for their Honor Flight based on when they served: World War II, Korea, Cold War, Vietnam, etc. “We have veterans and guardians Continued on page 2
MARINE CORPS WAR MEMORIAL — Vietnam Army Veteran Bob Fisher and Guardian Julie Keyser visit the Marine Corps War Memorial during Fisher’s Honor Flight experience. The Marine Corps War Memorial is just one of many memorials Veterans visit.
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