Group forms to promote flights: Whiteside organization will raise money, work through Quad Cities

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ROCK FALLS – A group of Whiteside County and area residents is looking for volunteers to help honor World War II veterans with a trip to memorials in Washington, D.C.

The Whiteside County Veterans Honor Flight program came together after several local vets were treated to Honor Flights though the organization’s hub in the Quad Cities. They came back looking for a way to make sure more former servicemen and women from the Sauk Valley area had the same opportunity.

The Honor Flight program was created in 2005 to offer veterans an all-expenses-paid, one-day trip to visit  Washington to see the World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam memorials, as well as Arlington National Cemetery. Last year, the program, which gives priority to the terminally ill and those who served during World War II,  transported 11,137 veterans to the nation’s capital.

The local volunteers include Robert VanDeVelde, who enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1943. After returning from his recent flight, he wondered whether there was a way to establish a local organization similar to that in the Quad Cities, which sponsored his trip. The thought was to establish a “hub,” or location where veterans could be flown out of, at the Joseph Bittorf Airport near Rock Falls; however, the national program restricts its hubs to cities that are 100 miles apart.

According to Bob Morrison, who heads Honor Flight of the Quad Cities, there are hubs in Springfield, St. Louis, Chicago, Forest City, Iowa, and Rochester, Minn.

So the new local organization has decided to partner with the Honor Flight of the Quad Cities, gathering donations locally to fly vets out of the Quad Cities.

Dave Murray, an attorney with Ward, Murray, Pace, and Johnson and the temporary chair of Whiteside County Veterans Honor Flight, said that the veterans fly completely free, but it costs about $550 per veteran to organize the experience.

“I feel we owe our veterans a debt of gratitude,” Murray said.

The group is seeking monetary donations, volunteers and guardian caregiver escorts for the veterans. Application forms for veterans to request seats on a flight will be available at several area locations and from committee members.

To volunteer

Anyone wishing to volunteer for the Whiteside County Veterans Honor Flight program, or who wishes to apply for a flight, may pick up forms at the following locations:

■ The United Way of the Sauk Valley office, 502 First Ave., Sterling.

■ The Sauk Valley Chamber of Commerce office, 211 Locust St., Sterling.

■ The Sterling American Legion post, 601 First Ave.

■ Ward, Murray, Pace, and Johnson, 202 E. Fifth St., Sterling.

Donations also may be made at any of the locations. Checks should be made out to Honor Flight of the Quad Cities. For more information, go to www.honorflightqc.com or www.honorflight.org on the Internet.