Orvis Lunke of Colvill will once again be a “guardian” on the Northland Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. on June 8, 2013. The American Legion Post 413 Auxiliary unanimously agreed to donate to this effort. The Auxiliary invited Lunke to its last meeting so members could present a check for $500 toward a veteran’s flight.
Orvis Lunke of Colvill will once again be a “guardian” on the Northland Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. on June 8, 2013. Honor Flight Northland is a nonprofit organization created to honor veterans living in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin for all their sacrifices. The organization transports WWII heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect on their memorial.
Veterans and their guardians leave the Duluth airport in the early hours of the morning for the flight to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. The group is given a hero’s welcome when they land and they then board buses for a tour of the Women’s Veterans Memorial, the Korean and Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and Arlington Cemetery for the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and more. The highlight of the tour is of course the visit to the WWII monument for a flag ceremony.
Veterans who have gone on the Honor Flight find it an incredibly moving experience. Lunke said he heard veteran after veteran look at the WWII monument in awe, saying, “They did all this for us?”
This will be Lunke’s third time escorting a veteran on the trip to Washington, D.C. On the June 2013 trip he will be accompanying Gene Pearson of Hovland. Two other Cook County veterans are planning to make the next Honor Flight, Walter Thompson of Grand Marais, whose guardian will be his daughter Damora, and George Nelson of Lutsen, whose guardian will be John Mellang of Lutsen.
Although the volunteer guardians fund their own expenses for the trip, the Honor Flight is free for veterans, thanks to many community partners and donors. It costs approximately $600 to send each veteran to Washington. Donating to this year’s Honor Flight was the American Legion Post 413 Sons of the Legion, which contributed $600 and the American Legion Auxiliary, which donated $500 for the second year.
The donations were made because, as the Honor Flight Network website explains, “Our veteran heroes are not asking for recognition. It is our position that they deserve it. This is our way of saying to all our veterans—one more tour, with honor.”
The Honor Flight program began in 2005. In that first year, 137 World War II veterans were flown to see their memorial. The Honor Flight program has continued to grow and at the end of 2011, the Honor Flight Network had transported more than 81,000 veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam to see the memorials built to honor them at no charge to the veterans.
To learn more about the Northland Honor Flights, visit www.honorflightnorthland.org or call (218) 409-6110.
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