Honor Flight Northwest Ohio will be flying into the sunset.
The organization, which has taken more than 1,660 area veterans of the Second World War and other
conflicts to Washington, D.C. since 2007, announced Monday the upcoming 2014 season will be its last.

"It’s a difficult decision, but we just felt this was the year to do the four flights we scheduled
and that would be it," said David Chilson, a member of the Honor Flight Northwest Ohio board, this
morning. Chilson has been involved with the group since 2009.
In a statement, the nonprofit announced that "2014 will be Honor Flight Northwest Ohio’s last flying
season. At the end of the 2014 flying season, Honor Flight Northwest Ohio will cease operations.
Veterans who are not currently on Honor Flight Northwest Ohio’s wait list should consider the
Mid-Michigan Honor Flight hub."
However, the statement noted they anticipate that all World War II and Korean War veterans on their wait
list will be able to go on one of the four flights scheduled for this year. Indeed, Chilson noted the
group is still accepting applications from WWII veterans.
"They will get priority in terms of going. And there are still seats – not on the first two flights,
but on the June and September flights."
He said the reason for shutting down is twofold: first, the group felt it accomplished its primary
mission of taking WWII veterans to the nation’s capital "and we’ve gone beyond that by taking quite
a number of Korean War veterans and Vietnam War veterans."
Also, "we wanted to finish on a high note. 2014 should be a very good, very strong flying season.
And we wanted just to wrap up on a very positive note instead of tapering off."
The flights, all taking place on Wednesdays, are scheduled for:
• April 30
• May 21
• June 18
• Sept. 24
The statement also said Honor Flight Northwest Ohio will no longer be approving new fundraisers, and, as
of Saturday, they will no longer be making presentations to schools, veterans organizations, civic
organizations, and other groups. Honor Flight Northwest Ohio will additionally no longer accept
donations and contributions.
The itinerary of the flights – which take veterans to see the World War II memorial, Korean War memorial
and other famous sights in the city – will remain the same. However, Chilson noted the majority of those
being taken on the trips will be Korean War veterans. "We have a small number of World War II
veterans who will be on the April and May flights."
"I’m going to miss what we do, but we’ve had a very good seven years doing this," he said.
"We have a very good team. We’re all passionate about what we do."
"The opportunity to honor these veterans that have served our country has been very, very
rewarding."