History & Vision

The Honor Flight program was conceived by Earl Morse, a Physician Assistant and Retired Air Force Captain, to honor veterans he has taken care of for the past 27 years.  After retiring from the Air Force in 1998, Earl was hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs to work in a small clinic in Springfield, Ohio.  In May of 2004, the WWII Memorial was finally completed and dedicated in Washington DC which quickly became the topic of discussion among his WWII Veteran patients.  Earl repeatedly asked these veterans if they would ever travel out to visit THEIR memorial.  Most felt that eventually, somehow, they would make it to DC perhaps with a family member or friend.  As summer turned to fall, and then winter, these same veterans returned to the clinic for their follow-up visits.  Earl asked if they accomplished their dream of visiting the WWII Memorial.  By now, for most of the veterans queried, reality had settled in; it was clear to most that it simply wasn't financially or physically possible for them to make the journey.  Most of these senior heroes are in their 80s and lacked the physical and mental wherewithal to complete a trip on their own.  Families and friends also lacked the resources and time to complete a 3-4 day trip to DC.  Earl could tell that the majority of the veterans had given up all hope of ever visiting the memorial that was specifically created to honor their services and the services of their fellow comrades who paid the ultimate sacrifice.  That's when Earl decided that there has to be a way to get these heroes to DC to see their memorial.

In addition to being a Physician Assistant, Earl is also a private pilot and member of one of our nation's largest and best aero clubs located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,  Dayton, Ohio.  In December of 2004, Earl asked one of his WWII Veteran patients if he could personally fly him out to DC, free of charge, to visit his memorial.  Mr. Loy broke down and cried.  He said at his age he would probably never get to see his memorial.  He accepted the offer.  A second WWII Veteran was asked the same question a week later.  He too cried and enthusiastically accepted a trip to DC.  Realizing that the desire was so great, Earl started to ask for help from other pilots to make these hopes and dreams a reality.  In January of 2005, Earl addressed about 150 members of the aero club during a safety meeting, outlining a volunteer program to fly veterans to their memorial.  There were two major stipulations to his request.  The first was that the veterans pay nothing.  The entire aircraft rental ($600 to $1200 for the day) would have to be paid solely by the pilots.  The second was that the pilots personally escort the veterans around DC the entire day.   After Earl spoke, 11 pilots who had never met his patients volunteered to make their dream a reality.  Honor Flight was born.

Other dedicated volunteers joined, a board was formed, funds were raised and the first flight took to the air in May of 2005.  Six small planes flew 12 very happy veterans out to Manassas Virginia, just outside of Washington DC.  Vans then transported the pilots and veterans into DC and to the WWII Memorial.  The responses from both the veterans and the pilots were overwhelming. It was an experience that will live with them for the rest of their lives.    Soon other flights were planned and successfully accomplished.  So many veterans wanted to participate that towards the end of the year, commercial aircraft were used to accommodate forty veterans at a time, including many in wheelchairs.  At the end of the first year, Honor Flight took 137 WWII Veterans to their memorial.  In 2006, commercial flights were used exclusively because of the number of veterans on the waiting list and adverse weather conditions prohibited the small aircraft from participating on a regular schedule.  Locally, another 300 veterans completed the journey in 2006. 

The mission and ideals of the program began to spread across America.  Other cities and states became aware of our efforts and we fostered working relationships with dedicated community leaders in several states.  Jeff Miller in Hendersonville North Carolina led the expansion into areas not serviced by direct commercial flights to the Washington DC area.  He accomplished what was thought to be impossible.  He organized and obtained funding for an entire commercial jet to fly local area veterans out to visit the monument to their accomplishments.  Henderson County’s Own HonorAir was born.  On September 23^rd and again on the 24^th the US Airways chartered jet was filled with WWII Veterans and their guardians.  He again repeated his success on November 4^th of 2006.  In less than three months, HonorAir had flow over 300 WWII Veterans!  He quickly shared his expertise with others to start HonorAir programs in several other areas of the country.  By the end of 2006, across America, 891 WWII Veterans realized their dream of visiting their memorial. Two factors that we are extremely proud of are (1) all of our heroes had a safe and memorable trip and (2) we were able to raise sufficient funds so that every veteran flew absolutely free.