As mentioned a couple days ago, your editor is reporting on a major change that has been approved by the board of Land of Lincoln Honor Flight, as announced at their open Annual Board Meeting on January 21st. Starting in 2012, they have now opened up the flights to ALL Military Veterans who have served through May 7, 1975, the official end of the Vietnam War. Therefore, they are now taking applications from WWII, Korean and Vietnam era vets, as well as "gap" Veterans that fall between WWII & Korea or between the Korea & Vietnam wars. Here is how it works, based upon the seniority time frame of those who have honorably served their country:
Top priority will always be given to World War II Veterans who enlisted prior to 12-31-1946, the end of the war. Top priority will also always be given to certified terminally ill Veterans of any era, including current Iraq & Afghanistan soldiers. As of the meeting last Saturday, there were 155 on this waiting list.
The next priority will then always be given to those who served between the dates of 01-01-1947 and 12-31-1957, which includes the Korean War era soldiers. There is currently 205 on that list.
And then, the next priority will be for those who served between 01-01-1958 and 05-07-1975, which includes the Vietnam era soldiers. (It is planned that other more current era soldiers will be added at some later point when the prior three groups have been served). There currently are none (or just a few) on this new list since is has just been announced, so your editor suggests anyone eligible under this time range get there application in as soon as possible. Although this third priority list may not be offered a trip by Land of Lincoln Honor Flight for at least a couple years or more as they work through the first two priorities, trips are always on a "first come, first served" method, within the three groups, so getting your name in early will assure an earlier trip once that group starts getting called up. However, it is now projected that some members from the second group, that includes Korean War soldiers, will be offered a seat on the June flight.
The first three trips of 2012 are set for April 17th, May 22nd and June 19th, at a total cost of approximately $73,000 per trip. (LLHF pays the $475 per Veteran and Guardian volunteers pay their own $400 cost). There are still trips planned for September & October, dependent upon funding however as of right now LLHF does not have the monies to cover those trips. Therefore, if any of you are a member of any other Veteran group other than The American Legion, or any civic club, church, patriotic organization, or any other group that would like to hear more about what the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight does, please contact your Post Adjutant, John Dust, since he also is a LLHF volunteer in this area responsible for helping get the word out to Veterans and making presentations for this wonderful cause. Or, if you simply have further questions or suggestion, you can also contact him at HonorFlightGuy@aol.com. He would most definitely appreciate it.
To download a Veteran Application for a flight (and a Guardian form) you can either go to the LLHF web site or to our Post's Digital Library by clicking on either icon below:
Top priority will always be given to World War II Veterans who enlisted prior to 12-31-1946, the end of the war. Top priority will also always be given to certified terminally ill Veterans of any era, including current Iraq & Afghanistan soldiers. As of the meeting last Saturday, there were 155 on this waiting list.
The next priority will then always be given to those who served between the dates of 01-01-1947 and 12-31-1957, which includes the Korean War era soldiers. There is currently 205 on that list.
And then, the next priority will be for those who served between 01-01-1958 and 05-07-1975, which includes the Vietnam era soldiers. (It is planned that other more current era soldiers will be added at some later point when the prior three groups have been served). There currently are none (or just a few) on this new list since is has just been announced, so your editor suggests anyone eligible under this time range get there application in as soon as possible. Although this third priority list may not be offered a trip by Land of Lincoln Honor Flight for at least a couple years or more as they work through the first two priorities, trips are always on a "first come, first served" method, within the three groups, so getting your name in early will assure an earlier trip once that group starts getting called up. However, it is now projected that some members from the second group, that includes Korean War soldiers, will be offered a seat on the June flight.
The first three trips of 2012 are set for April 17th, May 22nd and June 19th, at a total cost of approximately $73,000 per trip. (LLHF pays the $475 per Veteran and Guardian volunteers pay their own $400 cost). There are still trips planned for September & October, dependent upon funding however as of right now LLHF does not have the monies to cover those trips. Therefore, if any of you are a member of any other Veteran group other than The American Legion, or any civic club, church, patriotic organization, or any other group that would like to hear more about what the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight does, please contact your Post Adjutant, John Dust, since he also is a LLHF volunteer in this area responsible for helping get the word out to Veterans and making presentations for this wonderful cause. Or, if you simply have further questions or suggestion, you can also contact him at HonorFlightGuy@aol.com. He would most definitely appreciate it.
To download a Veteran Application for a flight (and a Guardian form) you can either go to the LLHF web site or to our Post's Digital Library by clicking on either icon below:
