 Now talk about the military in Hawaii. I'm Jay Fidel. This is ThinkTab and talk about the Honor Flight Program. This is really important with Meredith Rosenbeck. She's the CEO of HonorFlight. HonorFlight.org, HonorFlight Inc., which is, she's got, it's got branches all over the country, but for now she's talking to us from Ohio. Thank you for appearing, Meredith. Thank you for having me, Jay. Glad to be here. So what is HonorFlight? Talk to us about how it got organized, what your role is, what it does. Absolutely. HonorFlight began in 2005. It was the brainchild of two amazing men, Earl Morris and Jeff Miller, who came together to form the HonorFlight Network in 2005. Their goal together was to bring World War II veterans to, at that time, the fairly new World War II Memorial. And they both felt an urgency to do so because the World War II veterans at that time even were aging out and dying in a fast clip. And now we're still trying to serve our World War II veterans and knowing that they're aging out even faster at this point. But the program grew from 2005 all the way to today. Our program is currently serving World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War veterans, and all of those in between. We have to date served over 250,000 veterans with a cost-free trip to Washington, D.C., to visit their memorials. In their day in Washington, D.C., our veterans visit the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Wall and Memorial. They typically go to Arlington National Cemetery, to the Air Force Memorial, Iwo Jima, which is the Marine Corps Memorial. They really get the whole gamut of a day in Washington, D.C. It is a day of honor, a day for them to share with each other stories and memories, good and bad. And it's really an honor for me to run this organization at a national level. Why do you do that? My grandfather was a World War II veteran. One of the highlights of his life was going back. He was a proud veteran. And one of the highlights of his life was going back to the World War II Memorial. And, you know, having that opportunity to reminisce and think about his service and what he did for our country. His passion for his time in the military just inspired me to do this role. There are challenges every single day. There are challenges we face as an organization. But I think that his passion for being a veteran and my gratitude towards those who search for our country, like my grandfather, keeps me going through all the days. It's fantastic. I just love our mission. It's so clear. It's so wonderful. You know, it's the best job I could possibly ask for. So how does somebody sign up to pick an honor flight? I'll make a guess and say they go to your website, which is under flight to ORG. We'll show a picture of that soon enough. And I guess they sign up and they have to qualify. What do they have to do to qualify? That's a good question. There is a ton of information available at honorflight.org. We have 130 regional hubs that are around the United States. You can find your link to your regional hub on our website. We have a map of 50 states and you can click on your state and find your regional hub based on the airport that's near you. You can go to the regional hub website, find their application and apply. You have to have served during World War Two, Korean War of Vietnam. You do not have to have served on foreign soil to qualify for an honor flight trip. It's military service and our gratitude is all we're really looking for there. Each of our 130 hubs does their program just a little bit differently. From a national level, we set safety and operational standards for the organization at a baseline and each hub gets to kind of modify that as they see fit to best serve the veterans in their area. So each hub's application is a little bit different. We also know that not every veteran lives near a local hub, regional hub. So we have a program that we run from our national office. We call it the low eagle honor flight. And we serve those veterans who aren't near a regional hub, which is what we're going to be doing in Hawaii here in a couple of weeks. We have those veterans go to our national website and pull our application and apply through our national website. If you're confused and you don't know where to go, your best bet is to go to the national website and apply through the national organization and we will make sure that your application gets to the right place. So it's not too late for a veteran in Hawaii to sign up for the honor flight that's coming in a few weeks? That's correct. So the flight that's coming in a few weeks is nearly full. However, we are looking to create one of a hub, an actual honor flight hub in Hawaii to continue to bring Hawaiian based veterans to Washington D.C. for their day of honor. So this is not a one and done situation for us. We hope to establish a long living program in Hawaii to bring those veterans to D.C. to visit their memorial. I'd support that. You know, we have a lot of veterans here from World War II and Korea and Vietnam for sure and thereafter. A lot of people have retired here because they like their service here and wanted to come back and live here and they are here. Yeah, absolutely the case and we, you know that when we initially announced a few months ago that we were going to be doing our inaugural flight from Hawaii with the support of Alaska Airlines. The feedback we received was tremendous. The veterans were so excited to hear that we would be running our program for them. They, you know, the guardians were ready to go. I mean, we've had so many volunteers already looking to volunteer with the program in Hawaii. It's been amazing. Well, I'm going to talk about age for a minute. If I was a veteran World War II, the greatest generation, the greatest generation that we that we have any contact with. I would be 80 or 90 years old now. And there's a fair chance I would be in firm in one way or another. If I was a veteran from, say, Korea, it would be, you know, 10 years younger, maybe, and I would likewise have the possibility of being in firm. If I was a Vietnam veteran and I am personally, I mean Vietnam era, we put it that way. I would, I would be still I would be in my 70s anyway, or older, and I would have the chance possibility of being in firm. How do you deal with that? You say no, you can't come. You say we'll make special arrangements. We'll accommodate you. You'll be very careful about your, your health and, you know, your, your status, so to speak, you know, and your strengths whatnot would take care of you, even if your infirmity appears on on the program on the flight. Great question, Jay. Yes, we take every veteran regardless of any infirmities they might have or health challenges they might have as long as their doctor is okay with them making the trip. We will make sure to coordinate that veteran with a guardian. Those are our, those are our volunteers that come along with our veterans to help care for them throughout the trip help, not necessarily a nurse or a doctor but someone who can be with the patient on the trip making sure that they have water and are taking their medicine. We have a health questionnaire that we bring along to make sure we know if veterans have any special health needs. We have, you know, we do. We have taken the gamut of veterans. In fact, our loan Eagle program takes terminally ill veterans as well. And so we have dealt with everything from terminal lung cancer patients who are in the last few weeks of their life to, you know, oxygen needs we need oxygen needs wheelchairs, all of the things. So, you know, any infirmity you might have shouldn't dissuade you from applying to go on an honor flight trip. That's a once in a lifetime thing. Yeah, suppose I apply to you for an honor flight every year. Can I do it? Can I do it? Like you said, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's a one time trip. But it's, we will try, we always try to prioritize our veterans based on age. So we try to get our World War two veterans on the flight first, followed by Korea, followed by Vietnam. And if there are terminally ill veterans who serve during any period of time, we prioritize them as well in terms of our waiting list. And so, you know, there is some movement there in terms of waiting list and how we get people on flight. But we want to make sure those are those who have the least amount of opportunity left. We try to get them there as soon as possible because it is a once in a lifetime chance to go see the memorials. So you have a special arrangement for, for eras periods after Vietnam, if they've been handicapped, injured, right, if they have some really profound medical situation, which they gained in war time. How does that work? Yeah, so that's through our national program and those veterans apply just like any other veterans through the Long Eagle program. And we offer a TLC opportunity for those veterans. So it's just based on, you know, their, their condition and, you know, their, their expected life expectancy to get them on a trip as soon as possible so that they don't miss the opportunity. Soon enough, I suppose, you'll have fewer of the World War two veterans and you'll move the, you'll move the frame ahead into Gulf War one and two and so forth, right? And then, you know, Iraq and Afghanistan and all that. So what's your plan on that? What's the timeframe? The two memorials, the War on Terror Memorial, and I'm trying to make sure I get the names right because I don't know if I will. The War on Terror Memorial and the Desert Storm Desert Shield Memorial are both approved and in the process of continuing the fundraising to get the memorials underway. Once those memorials are established and dedicated and we have actually gotten through enough of our Vietnam veteran waiting list because we don't want to, we want to continue to prioritize our oldest veterans first because we want them to have the opportunity to see their memorial. We will then open it up to those veterans, absolutely. So it was interesting, Jay, because when I took this job about four and a half years ago now, I had a good friend who said to me, why would you take that job? And I was, I listed him, I was like, well, it's an amazing opportunity. I'm really excited about it. And he goes, but World War two veterans, they're all going to be gone in a couple of years. And then what are you going to do? And I said, oh no, we're already serving Korean war veterans and Vietnam veterans. And then we're going to move into some of the more recent conflict, Desert Storm Desert Shield War on Terror. All of those conflicts because those veterans also deserve their day of honor. And so it's interesting because I always just assume everyone knows that we're going to continue our program as long as we absolutely can. And as long as we have the support of our generous public to keep our program going, because like I said, all of our honored veterans fly for free. And these trips are expensive. I mean, we fundraise for these trips and we bring all these veterans in so that they don't have to pay a dime. As long as we can continue the fundraising effort, we will continue our program until I'm old and gray, I guess. And then I think someone else will probably take my place. So yeah, I wanted to ask you about the trip. So you mentioned Alaska Airlines. It's a long flight. It's not like you can fly from Hawaii or the West Coast to Washington to see these memorials and have these events without staying over. And I suspect there's got to be a hotel in there somewhere and meals in there somewhere and transportation in there somewhere. How do you, how do you organize that because that, as you said, can be expensive. The massive effort in terms of both logistics and planning and fundraising. And so with respect to this Hawaii trip, it's actually going to be a five day trip. I believe Hawaii on Monday, May 7. I'm looking at kind of looking over my calendar to make sure I get the day straight. They will fly to Portland spend the night. They will get to DC. The evening of Tuesday, the eighth, they will do their tour in DC on Wednesday the night. Go back to Portland on Thursday, the 10th, and then come back to Honolulu for their welcome home on Veterans Day November 11. So it will be a five day trip to just get everyone there, get the tour in and then get everyone back. So, just in terms of the experience that I would have on an honor flight, I would take the flight together with people who have also signed up from my hub and my group, and we would fly together. And then you would bust me to a hotel or a restaurant or combination. And then you would bust me to these various memorials around Washington and give me a tour in each one of them. Somebody going to have to do that. And, and I guess spend a little time with me in some reception, so I can get to know the fellow next to me, right tell me how it works what what is the experience like once I get on that plane. You hit the nail on the head I couldn't have done it better if I tried. So, you will fly to the airport or get yourself to the airport, you will fly to Portland, the hotel, there will be food accommodations. And, you know, there will be some time for you to visit with those other veterans that are on the flight guardians will also be traveling along. So, veterans will have someone with them for this entire five day period. Get back on get up in the morning get back to the airport on another flight, get to DC to the airport, you'll be at the airport in DC. You'll spend the evening again you'll have dinner and do all the things hop on a bus the next day, guided tours of each of the memorials as you go around DC. And there's plenty of time. I think that's the one thing that that I love the most about our honor flight trip. Make sure that that not only are you getting to see the memorials there's time for the veterans to reflect and share while they're at the memorials because if you've ever been to them they are moving in and of themselves and when you have the opportunity to visit them with veterans. I, I love to go I don't often go because I don't want to take a veteran seat on any flight. I haven't been to be in DC for meetings or whatever. I always try to go if I know a hub will be in town because veterans love to share their stories and I love to hear them because it's part of history. And we get to carry that along with us. And it's such an amazing day. Everyone has such a healing it's just, you can't describe the day until you go. Wow, you know, you just opened a thought for me. And that is yes it is part of history and, and these are stories that nobody may know about, you know, their personal stories. And it's great that these these veterans can share the stories but puff, it's gone. And the question is how can you memorialize that. And I have an answer for you. You can send them to me, I will memorialize, I will be happy to memorialize them having these conversations if they're willing. And put it on think tech about my job and the thing that's the most rewarding is, we often get letters or emails from families when veterans return home from their honor play trip. And they say dad or grandpa or grandma or whoever the veteran wasn't one of the trip. They never told us anything about their time in the military, not one story about their service, it was bottled up and put on a shelf and never asked about never spoken about. They went on their honor flight trip. They had an opportunity to be with other veterans with similar experiences. And now they came home and they finally told us their story. And for me. That for me is not just leaving that story untold because now the family knows and that's where the history gets continued because now grandchildren can be told about what grandpa did when he served in the military. Or the honor flight trip. It's incredible how often we get that from families and it's just so moving that this trip just allows that opportunity then within that family to share the story. Why I'm sure you've thought about this but why in the first phase is it bottled up. What's what's the scenario that makes these guys and girls of these veterans bottled up for so many years. What what is the psychological process there. I think often it's trauma. I think one of the things that I've seen with our Vietnam veterans and I'm not a medical practitioner or anything like that but one of the things I've seen with our Vietnam veterans that I've had the opportunity to spend some time with on their trip. They often think they themselves didn't do enough. There was always someone else who did more or risked more. And they don't feel deserving of the ability to tell their story or of that story being memorialized. And I hear it all too often because you know and as the day goes on and you know the stories are worked through and and people talk together. Eventually I think that those folks do feel deserving that their story does deserve to be told, because others have similar stories or similar experiences are shared like experiences you know often. It's the World War two veterans to get our Vietnam veterans to open up and I think that's really incredible because those that the experiences were very different. But similar in so many ways and it allows everyone to kind of just be able to open those floodgates that have been closed for so long. It's really, it truly amazed me over the years how often that comes up. I'm still making you the offer. Okay, you know what I looked at your website and I tried to imagine to ideate how this was I thought, gee, wouldn't it be something if these veterans knew each other to start. And they could talk about their, their common experience in a, in a given military unit or some geographical location, some battle who knows what. It's wonderful and wouldn't that be, you know, the most intense possible thing you could have especially given the fact that they may not have talked for, you know, 50 60 70 years, as a matter of fact. But then, you know, talking to you now I realize, it doesn't matter if they knew the other veteran before. The fact that the other veteran in the seat next to them in the in the plane in the bus in the hotel in the restaurant at the at the event in the memorial is somebody who can understand what the experience was and that's enough. The fact is actually even preferable. I don't need to talk to somebody who was there shoulder to shoulder with me that's, that's nice. I want to talk to a number of people who can understand what happened to me. I think you're exactly right on that J. I think different experiences allow people to because they don't, you know, a Vietnam veteran doesn't know what the beaches of Normandy were like, but they can then, you know, hear that. I did, I did this or I went through this and saw this and it's telling you to someone who hasn't been there who's interested in the differences right are interested in the different story that someone else has to tell and I think that the commonality of having served our country is it all together and it really, we always find it that our veterans are just more than willing by the end of the day to just share their stories with each other and with their guardians and with, you know, with the folks on their trip. Yeah, well, there's another part of that story. It's the story of catching up. So here I was I served with you with somebody like you in World War two or in Vietnam or Korea. But my, my life has moved forward from there. I came back. I was married, I had kids, family, career, I mean, or, or the lack of those things, you know, the track of life for the veteran veteran by definition is someone who is still alive, a veteran is somebody who served in a theater of war, and a veteran is somebody who had a life in the country when he or she got back. And I am sure to a moral certainty and you can confirm this for me that part of their conversation on the plane on the bus in the events at the memorials the restaurants the hotels. It's about what happened after they got back. What kind of lives they've had. And for that matter, how their military experience affected those lives, you know, the step going forward. Am I right. Absolutely. There is so much sharing about children and what they've done and in marriage and family and things that they've been through post war. And I think that that sort of those commonalities and the ability to share some of those day to day things. And allows them then you get a little deeper right so you sit next to somebody on the bus and you start talking oh I've been married for, you know, 40 years and my wife is this and I have this many kids. And it just gets as the day goes on you kind of get deeper and deeper and as you see the memorials and, you know, you get to experience that with you might be an army guy and go to the Marine Corps Memorial but maybe that experience brings up some memories for the buddy next to you who's been and was in the Marine Corps. And so it's just all the different pieces and parts come together. You know we have something we call honor flight magic day. And it happened from time to time and we also have this thing called honor flight allergies. You know they just they flare up from time to time and you tear up a little bit but it you know it goes away. But the honor flight magic pieces interesting we've had so many instances where veterans who serve together in wartime have been on separate honor flight trip from different parts of the country. They came into DC on the same day just happens to be the same day and recognize each other at the memorial and can then have a conversation. It's truly incredible it's happened on many occasions, or you know, running to someone that you know it's the son of someone who they serve with and that person's a guardian on their trip. It's just really incredible how you can watch how people come together and this you know I think now used to be seven degrees of separation but I think now what is it or because of the internet right I think it's interesting how it how it comes together on an honor flight trip sometimes just the strange little thing that the universe is kind of manufactured. That's why it's such a gift isn't it. They get reconnected. I may not know this individual but I had such a time talking to him or her. So when I get home maybe I want to send him an email I want to continue that conversation. After all it was an important part of my life and my survival, and the years after that I am a veteran. Do you find that you find that they bond up where they did not know each other before or maybe they did. And now you know that relationship continues after the honor flight. We do, and many of our hubs will do reunion luncheon. And so once a year, they'll get everyone that went that year together and do a luncheon and have a speaker or you know we're just bringing people together. Some of them will have you know guardians reach out and help the veterans get together many of our veterans are in assisted living or independent living facilities and so we have a lot of our volunteers who are more than willing to go help our veterans meet back up with those folks that they met on their trip and so they'll take them go pick them both up and take them to lunch and have a day of it. And so I do, I do think people do stay connected after their trip. If they want to and if they don't want to that, you know, quite fine as well. We don't share information unless we're asked to, you know, by the both parties that share information. But we do find that our veterans do like to stay connected after the trip with those they went on the trip with and with the guardians as well because it's a special day for everyone. You know, I'm thinking if I spent five days with a bunch of guys, Heather and Jan and sort of a swirling community of people where I run into this person and I rub elbows with that person and so forth. There are a lot of things to talk about. And one of them is is the fundamental among all veterans and that is intense patriotism. They have in a way they have invested their lives in the country. And by large I would expect that veterans are more patriotic than the average citizen on the street. And so they must talk about that. On the other hand, you know, the conversation isn't always going to be the same from generation to generation. Their view of patriotism, their view of their relationship with the country would be different. I think from World War two to Vietnam, a lot of people oppose Vietnam, even in the military they oppose Vietnam. Korea, Korea is in the middle somewhere. And of course, more recently and I don't know if you see this yet but I think I think the veterans may have a different view of patriotism now. We know there are a lot of people on active duty, you know, who are not as patriotic as we might be, given the divisiveness in the country right now. They may side with, you know, people who are arguably not democratic. They may have a different view of it entirely. However, it will advise that may be. And I just wonder if the conversation in the airplane, in the bus, in the hotel, in the restaurant at the memorial includes the level of patriotism that they take away from their investment in the country during their years of service. Party to those particular conversations because we let our kind of veterans have their own time and their own, you know, conversations with each other at the dinner. So we, you know, we try to let them have time to share their stories to share their ideas and enjoy each other because that's part of the trip is honoring and celebrating them but also giving them the time to honor and celebrate themselves and with each other right in that camaraderie. But I, you know, I do think that we do see, I don't know that it's patriotism we see different views and in terms of how people felt about their, like, I know my grandfather really felt proud of his service. It was something, you know, he wore his Legion hat with pride, his World War II veteran hat with pride all the time, everywhere. But we have, I know we have some of our Vietnam veterans who still don't have pride for their service because they just felt like it was, you know, a political, there were so many politics surrounding that war. And I want them to be proud of their service though because they sacrificed for our country, and they deserve to be honored for that sacrifice, you know, and I just don't want them ever to be ashamed of their service and I, you know, sometimes we do see that. And I just hope that we can help help get people past that and be able to share with their families, you know, what their service meant to them, maybe at the time and maybe what it means now because at that time it could have meant one thing. And today it could mean something totally different to them. And so, you know, that sharing of that conversation with with their families or with with those on the honor flight trip. I think it's important to like to the healing getting past, you know, the feelings of not even wanting to talk about your service. Well, you know, one thing is clear that a strong country requires dedication by the members of the military and the community to be dedicated to the members of the military to be on the same page. And, and just like the Veterans Administration, just like, you know, the ordinary citizen who makes contributions to you, who supports this program. This is a statement that we care. And it's not only a message to the people who go on the honor flight. It's a message to the people who might be in the military today, or tomorrow, or the people who might never be in the military to say that we are together in this matter. And that we care about the men and women in uniform. So I think it goes beyond just the veterans on those planes that you organize. It's a statement that goes far broader than that. That's my feeling. What's your feeling. I completely agree Jay, and we have so many active duty military who are in the DC area in the Annapolis, Maryland area in the DC. And they love to come out in uniform and greet our veterans at the memorials to read our buses as they drive by to salute our veterans as they as they drive through the memorials. It's truly incredible to see, but I think it does. It does show by honoring our veterans from World War Two through Vietnam. I think it does show that we care for our veterans and we care about that service so much and I, our veterans love when our active duty military come out to see them. It's just such a great experience for them to share to just, you know, just reminisce and remember what it was like to wear the uniform. It's really neat to see because they really do light up when our when our young military folks come out to greet them and talk with them. Did they ever wear their own uniforms. Not usually. I'll tell you, I would, I would wear my own uniform, except I want to be clear about this it would never fit me. We have a couple who have fit back into it I think that's usually half the battle is that it doesn't quite fit anymore you're not quite the same size as you were back in the military days. We've had a couple who have fit into them, but it is neat sometimes to see a number of veterans will have the opportunity with their guardian to show them some of their memorabilia or photo book or you know things that they've collected through their service and you know some of them have brought it out for the first time, you know in 40 years and they bring it out and it's just like wow this is you know truly an incredible piece of memorabilia. And so we love to see that I love when when our veterans are able to share that with their guardians or maybe bring it to the luncheon or you know any of those kinds of things really neat some of the stuff that they have is pretty cool. Yeah. So, some people who watch this may not know about you. Maybe they're learning about it right now as they watch some people who watch this might be inclined to make a contribution to you. Can you take a moment and just leave your final thoughts with them about this. Absolutely. We are always, we always are grateful for monetary donations, and you could make a monetary donation on our website at on our fight.org, but we're also always looking for volunteers to come out. If you're interested in volunteering you can find your regional hub on our website, and you can contact your regional hub director from that website their email is on there their phone number is on there. We are always looking for folks to come out to the airport to greet our veterans when they arrive home from their honor flight trip. That is truly an amazing experience. You can bring your kids to that. Truly, I always say, we are one of the few organizations left where you can actually come out and volunteer if you can actually give your time and volunteer and you can bring your kids along because it's a kid friendly event. Bring them out to the welcome home. Sometimes they get a little late at night you want to make sure to check the time. We have Boy Scout troops and Girl Scout troops who come out, especially during the summertime, because you know there's no school the next day or, you know, it's kind of can be a late night sometimes. But it's great they make they make signs and they, you know, they come out with their parents and they wave flags and it's just it's really impactful for our veterans who come home as part of their celebration. Part of that day of honor for them. But it's really, really nice. So if you want to volunteer, you can check out find your regional hub on our website and contact them to volunteer. You can also make a donation to your regional hub. So if you click on through our website, you can find your regional hub and make a donation to your regional hub as well. We are always, you know, all of our veterans buy for free. I would say the cost of a trip has gone up significantly, at least since covid for a veteran that's east of the Mississippi. The trip for that veteran is around 650 to $750 for a veteran west of the Mississippi. That's probably around 1350 to $1,500 and from Alaska and Hawaii. It's significantly more than that. And so your contributions go directly to our veterans. We have, you know, a small staff that runs a great program, but 95% of our dollars go back to getting our veterans to DC. You know, it occurred to me looking at your website, but it occurs to me now that this whole program is not only celebrating the veterans who are still alive. You're also honoring. Well, thank you, Meredith. Great to talk to you. We really appreciate you joining us on the show and helping us understand not only what Honor Flight does, but what it represents. This is a very important part of our national heritage and our patriotism. Thank you so much. Thank you. Aloha. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.