Representatives of Honor Flight Fayette made a presentation to the Peachtree City Council last week seeking promotional and financial support for the program.

Honor Flight will send local veterans of World War II on a free day-long trip via airplane to Washington, D.C. to visit the WWII memorial. The trip will be free of charge, and each veteran must have a “guardian” attend with them, who must pay their own way at a cost of $300.

Gail Sparrow, president of Honor Flight Fayette, and vice president Mark Buckner, spoke to the council about the push to sign up area WWII veterans, as there’s no way to get in contact with each and every one.

The all-volunteer group has been working with local veterans programs including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion in addition to the Veteran’s Administration to find WWII vets to sign up for the flight.

Sparrow said once the program has reached every WWII veteran possible in Fayette, it’s likely it can be expanded to veterans of successive wars. The focus on WWII veterans is because of their generational age many are being lost to death, organizers have said.

It is estimated that between 1,200 and 1,500 WWII veterans die each day.

Because of health issues faced in general by WWII vets, Honor Flight Fayette will have a doctor and nurse on board each flight to take care of any problems that might arise.

To donate or learn more about Honor Flight Fayette, visit www.honorflightfayette.org. The site has printable forms for veterans, guardians and volunteers to sign up. All donations are tax exempt.

Other board members are Jo Springer (secretary), Allen Smith (treasurer), Brenda Smith (publicity chair), the Rev. Mark Westmoreland, senior pastor of Fayetteville First United Methodist Church, Dan Springer and George Sparrow.

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