Four local veterans will be on Honor Flight
The Never Forgotten Honor Flight organization based in Wausau will fly four Korea and 99 Vietnam Era veterans from central and northern Wisconsin to Washington, D.C. to see the memorials that honor their service on Monday, April 17. It’s the organization’s 43rd flight since the first Never Forgotten Honor Flight took place April 27, 2010.
Four local veterans are set to take part in the event. Lowell Borchardt, Michael Dahlke and James Myszka, all of Edgar, will be on the flight, along with Gerald Hargraves from Marathon. Each served in the Vietnam era. Borchardt, a Navy veteran, served aboard the USS Chuckawan, which was a Sixth Fleet oiler. Dahlke, who served in the Army from 1973-1979, was a SP4 in the mechanic motor pool. Another Army veteran, Myszka was a Camp Eagle 101st Airborne medic. Hargraves served in the Army from 1968-1970 as a SP5 stateside.
Sixty-eight guardians will accompany the vets on the one-day round trip that departs Central Wisconsin Airport at 6:30 a.m. and is scheduled to return at approximately 10 p.m. The public is invited to the Central Wisconsin Airport to welcome the veterans home Monday night. Honor Flight officials recommend arriving no later than 8:30 p.m. Free parking for those welcoming these veterans home will be provided. Never Forgotten Honor Flight (NFHF) veteran alumni are encouraged to wear their NFHF-issued clothing (hat, shirt or windbreaker) for the welcome home ceremony.
After Monday’s trip, the Never Forgotten Honor Flight will have flown 4,081 veterans to Washington, D.C. All veterans that served prior to May 7, 1975 are encouraged to submit an application (online or by calling 715573-8519). The only criteria for veterans to qualify for an Honor Flight is to have served prior to May 7, 1975, regardless of where they served.
Veterans receive a free round-trip flight, and guardians pay $500 for the opportunity to accompany one, two or three veterans on the trip. Veterans and guardians interested in taking a future Honor Flight must complete an application at www.neverforgottenhonorflight. com or contact the organization at 715-573-8519.
The veterans are selected based upon the order in which their applications are received and the conflict they served in. Preference is given to World War II veterans, then Korea veterans and then Vietnam veterans. Veterans who are terminally ill, regardless of when they served in those three eras, are given top preference. Guardians should be 18-69 years old and able to lend physical assistance to the veterans (cannot be a spouse or “significant other”). Completed applications for veterans and guardians also can be mailed to Never Forgotten Honor Flight, 225780 Rib Mountain Drive, #234, Wausau, WI 54401.
North Central Wisconsin’s Never Forgotten Honor Flight is the nation’s 77th regional hub and one of five Wisconsin Honor Flight hubs. The Wausau-based organization was certified by the National Honor Flight Network office in Springfield, Ohio on December 11, 2009.
