Citing safety of veterans and volunteers, Lake County Honor Flight will not fly until spring
Lake County Honor Flight, which sponsors multiday trips to Washington, D.C., for veterans and their guardians, will not fly again until April.
After a moratorium on Honor Flights enacted by the national network in March 2020 was lifted, some local organizations resumed operations Aug. 16. But the Lake County group will stay grounded for a second consecutive year because of potential risks to veterans and other factors.
“We just didn't feel comfortable with safety issues because of COVID and (being) able to provide the same life-changing experience as we have in the past,” said board member Linda Rockwell.
“We are so anxious. It's breaking our hearts as well,” she added.
Veterans who are terminally ill or want to go sooner than April 2022 can check with other Honor Flight organizations, said Paula Carballido, co-founder and president of the Lake County group, which sponsored its first flight in September 2013.
The free trips take veterans to Washington to visit the memorials of the wars they fought and other sights in and around the capital.
The Lake County group sponsors three all-expense paid trips per year. It differs from some others in that annual trips are for three days and two nights, rather than a single-day round trip.
About 130 organizations, known as hubs, are under a national umbrella but operate independently.
“The decision of who the Honor Flight flies is up to them,” Carballido said.
Local hubs have been cautioned by the national group on the uncertainty of travel safety recommendations and the potential for last-minute cancellations.
As of Monday, 129 Honor Flights are scheduled to fly through the end of the year via 60 hubs, according to Carol Harlow, spokeswoman for the Honor Flight Network. However, one can't surmise the remaining 70 hubs opted out for 2021, she said, because it's not a given they were planning to fly this year, she explained, because in any given year some hubs choose not to fly for various reasons, such as lack of funding or volunteers.
Restrictions to support services such as police escorts and food service in Washington also were a factor in the decision, Carballido added.
“There are a lot of moving pieces behind the scenes. We want to give them the trip they deserve and not have to worry about everything else going on,” she said.
Springfield-based Land of Lincoln Honor Flight reached the same conclusion last month.
“Based on the current protocols and restrictions, we believe that we will not be able to provide our veterans the full-flight experience in a safe, health and comfortable manner,” said Joan Bortolon, Land of Lincoln president.
Pre-screening passengers and volunteers, the time spent wearing masks, and quarantine requirements upon return were among other concerns.
“We don't want to fly just because we can — we want to fly when we can do it well and with full honors for our veterans,” Bortolon said in a statement. There are about 200 on Lake County Honor Flight's waiting list. The trips are limited to 23 veterans, with their individual guardians and volunteers filling the remainder of capacity for a charter bus.
“We want to be sure every veteran we take has a comparable experience to what we've had,” Rockwell said. “There's just a really special bonding — our hub has so much of a family feeling.”