WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The final Never Forgotten Honor Flight of 2019 will take off from the Central Wisconsin Airport on Monday with 111 veterans on board. It will be the largest of any of the previous 37 missions to see memorials built in their honor in the Nation’s Capital.
But, none of those on the flight will be from America’s Greatest Generation.
James Campbell, co-Founder and VP of Marketing for the Never Forgotten Honor Flight, says Monday’s mission will be just the 4th to go without a World War II Veteran. He says the reason for that is a simple numbers game.
“Less than 3% of the 16.1 million that signed up and saved our planet from tyranny [are still alive.] The youngest are 94 or 95-years-old,” says Campbell. “We are losing about 492 of them every day, and in the counties we serve in Central and Northern Wisconsin we lose about one a day.”
To Campbell, that means it’s becoming increasingly important for the current generation to tell the stories of those Veterans so they aren’t forgotten when the last one passes in the next few years because the bravery they showed is unlike anything our country has ever seen.
“I tell these ladies and gentlemen that if it wasn’t for what they did, we would be speaking German or Japanese today, one or the other. These were kids. Many, like my father, lied about their age, then traveled to places no one had ever heard of to fight a very ruthless enemy on both fronts in the South Pacific and European Theater.”
Another part of the World War II story that Campbell feels is important to know is many of those Veterans answered the call again several years later to help in the Korean conflict. “They said I need to go back because I have 4 or 5 years of experience, I can help these 17 and 18-year-olds so they don’t die.
“They went to save a country that, at the time, many people couldn’t find on a map,” added Campbell.
He is encouraged by how schools in the area have kept the story alive because many of the Veteran’s he’s talked to report getting letters from children each year around holidays such as Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day.
“We have to keep reminding each generation why what these Veterans did was important. Because as Ronald Regan said ‘freedom is not something that is passed on through a genetic pool. It is fought for by every generation.’ If we forget that, we can lose it just as quickly as we got it,” said Campbell.
Monday’s flight takes off just before dawn and will return at around 10 PM. The public is encouraged to attend the homecoming to cheer the Veterans as they make their way down from the terminal.
It should be noted that a special homecoming for the September Honor Flight will also be held at 8:30 that evening. Travel issues prevented their flight from landing on time at the Central Wisconsin Airport, meaning those Veterans did not get the typical Honor Flight homecoming.
Campbell says it’s also important to remember that there is no prerequisite for Veterans to have served in combat to take an Honor Flight. To qualify, Veterans only need to have been active during the years outlined in the application. Flights are open to all branches of the military and those who were in reserves or the National Guard.
Campbell adds that NFHF did receive an application last week from a 95-year-old woman who served during World War II. She will be at the front of the line for the first Honor Flight of 2020 next spring.
