The greatest American generation is rapidly fading into history. There were 16 million Americans involved in World War II and today less than 855,000 remain alive. On an average 492 World War II veterans die each day, 180,000 per year. In South Carolina there are approx. 13,749 living World War II veterans. It will not be long before the last veterans of World War II are gone and with them the memories, experiences and eye witness accounts of the battles and of the brave men and women that sacrificed everything for the freedom we enjoy today.

The time remaining to honor these heroes is running out. Honor Flight South Carolina has been on a mission since 2007 to provide World War II veterans an opportunity to see their National WWII Memorial in Washington DC. The organization with the help of generous corporate and private money has been able to provide free one day trips to Washington for over 1600 veterans so far.

If you have never experienced an honor flight first hand or seen a flight return to Columbia Airport after the one day tour of the war memorials, you have missed a patriotic spectacle guaranteed to give you goose bumps. Hundreds of people gather in the main terminal at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport to honor and welcome back the World War II heroes with a roaring reception of patriotic music, honor guards, veteran organizations, flag waving and cheering.

The next flight scheduled for Columbia is Wednesday May 13th. There is speculation that this could be the final flight out of Columbia Metropolitan Airport. Agapé Senior is urgently seeking any and all veterans that have not yet had this opportunity to get in touch with our Veteran Advocate, Jennifer Kistler @ 803-960-1703 or email her at jkistler@agapesenior.com for more information on this important event.