LOUISVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Honor Flight Bluegrass is seeking WWII Veterans in Kentucky to join them for the chance to take a ride in a B-25 bomber in Louisville for free on Thursday.
Officials with Honor Flight Bluegrass noted that June 6 will mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and WWII veterans will have the "once in a lifetime opportunity" to fly in a historic WWII bomber at Bowman Field in Louisville.
17 veterans from each branch of the service, ages 97 - 101, are already set to join, and the Chairman of Honor Flight Bluegrass, Jeff Thoke, is looking for more to come along.
Thoke said that this could be the largest group of WWII Veterans to gather in one location in the United States.
A release from the organization said that veterans will be able to board flights at the old terminal building on Taylorsville Road at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m., and if an additional flight is needed, one will take place at 5:30 p.m.
In addition, rides in Jeeps and other military vehicles will be offered throughout the day.
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The release added, "They deserve this honor and opportunity, for they went off to war 80 years ago to save the world so we could have our freedoms today. They came home, went back to work and took care of their families without speaking much about their war experiences."
The release further read that veterans often express, “We were just doing our jobs, and the ones who should be honored are the ones who were left behind…over 400,000 of them.”
Of the 16 million men and women who served in WWII, it is estimated that only 100,000 remain, according to the release.
The Ketntucky Veterans Program Trust Funds, the release said, is sponsoring the WWII B-25 bomber "Miss Mitchell" which will fly the veterans during the event.
Information on Honor Flight Bluegrass can be found at www.honorflightbluegrass.org.
