From the Las Vegas Sun: On Friday, a troop of 35 World War II veterans will walk and wheel their way into McCarran International Airport for a final mission.
They are men and women who have been shot down in combat, earned Purple Hearts and courageously served their country. At 0730 hours, they will board a plane for Washington, D.C., and won’t have a clue what surprises organizer Jon Yuspa has waiting for them on the first-ever Las Vegas Honor Flight.
The veterans have never received their proper homecoming, nor asked for one, but by the time they return from their tour of the World War II memorial, Yuspa hopes to change that.
“One of the couple things you hear from them is they understand their lot in life. … They understand they’re in their final chapters,” Yuspa said. “But when they come back, they’ll tell you that you helped to rewrite their final chapter.”
Yuspa started the first Honor Flight branch in Nevada two years ago when he moved to Reno. He had previously volunteered to assist on the trips when he lived on the East Coast and was surprised a branch didn’t exist in Nevada.
The national nonprofit has been flying America’s veterans to see their war memorial since 2005. Most branches are stationed in the Midwest or East, where the trip can be completed in one day.
Yuspa realized a Nevada branch would mean more than triple the cost because it was a three-day trip, but he had seen the impact these trips had on other veterans and knew Nevadan veterans deserved the same.
Through donations from the Nevada Military Support Alliance, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the community, he was able to make it a reality.
Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/apr/29/top-secret-mission-surprises-await-wwii-veterans-f/#ixzz2RtmeFWtP
This is very cool and thank goodness for John Yupsa.
As an aside, this blog kind of helped start the Honor Flight in Nevada: http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2010/11/why-doesnt-nevada-have-honor-flights.html
After the blog post ran, John contacted me and since he had more time and dedication, he helped make this thing a reality. Nice job, John.
If you are interested in the program or want to make a donation: http://www.honorflightnv.org/ftp.HonorFlightNV.org/Home.html
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