Red Bud resident Gary Birke recently participated in what was the longest Honor Flight on record for Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois.
The Honor Flight Program was originally started in Ohio in 2005. The program’s founder, Earl Morse, a physician assistant and retired Air Force captain, had the simple goal of safely transporting as many World War II veterans as possible to Washington D.C. to see the National World War II Memorial, as well as a few other sites there.
For more on Birke’s Honor Flight, please see this week’s print edition.