Last Frontier Honor Flight gains traction with donations

MAT SU — Stan Coleman was 17 when he joined the U.S. Navy and served as support for combat soldiers in the Pacific theater during World War II. Seven decades later, he was among the first all-Alaska group to visit the World War II memorial as part of the Last Frontier Honor Flight.

The October 2013 trip was the first for the local Honor Flight affiliate, which raises funds to take World War II veterans to visit their memorial in Washington, D.C. After a successful first trip, Alaska World War II veterans are on track to make many more trips, said Ron Travis, founder of Last Frontier Honor Flight.

What makes the trips truly special is the community outreach and generosity it takes to make them happen, Travis said. All expenses for veterans are covered, and on average, it costs about $70,000 to take a group to visit the memorial.

October’s inaugural trip was made possible in part by a $10,000 donation from Matanuska Electric Association’s Round Up program, and a generous donation of wheelchairs and medical supplies from Geneva Woods Pharmacy. To rent those chairs and equipment would have cost the group thousands more, Travis said.

Now the organization is preparing for its second trip in May, and has secured its most generous donation yet. Alaska Airlines has given the organization 50 travel vouchers for veterans and has agreed to discount the airfare of chaperones by 15 percent, Travis said. Also, the airline has donated eight more tickets for the group to use during fundraising efforts.

“After we got back from the October trip, they thought we had made a pretty big hit, so they called us up and said we’d like to make a deal,” Travis said about Alaska Airlines. “We’d like to give you 50 vouchers for the tickets.”

As if that wasn’t enough of a morale-booster for the Honor Flight, the Shiloh Inn in Portland, Ore., where the group will lay over for a night in May en route to Washington, D.C., told Travis there would be no charge for the veterans’ rooms or meals. Only chaperones will pay for their own lodgings.

“I don’t know what to say about that,” Travis said. “How many ways can you say ‘thank you?’”

What that means is the spring trip is a go and the group is well on its way toward raising funds for a third trip planned in October. It also means that money raised can be used to make the experience extra special for the veterans.

“We can enhance the trips a little bit now,” Travis said. “The last time, we went bare bones on everything. We were eating Subway sandwiches for $5. Now this year we can do a little bit better for the guys, like getting them some nice (Honor Flight) jackets.”

One of the group’s partners is ABC Travel Time in Wasilla, which organizes group travel for the Last Frontier Honor Flight.

“It’s a pleasure to do it, because it’s a profound benefit for these people who have sacrificed so many years ago for our freedom,” ABC owner Cindy Bettine said. “I think it’s cool that the veterans are getting to go to the memorials that so many around the world see that honors them.”

She also said that in nearly 36 years in the travel business, she hasn’t seen generosity from an airline toward a local group like she has with Alaska Airlines and the Last Frontier Honor Flight.

“I have never seen an airline partner bend over backwards like they have for this group,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to see a company like Alaska Airlines participate at this level. I’m so happy it’s doing everything it’s doing to make this possible.”

Bettine also credits the work of Barb Price, who handles group travel for ABC Travel Time. She said Price helped get the ball rolling with the airlines.

Wherever the support comes from, Coleman said he’s humbled and grateful for all those who made the first local Honor Flight possible, and he hopes all remaining World War II veterans can make the same trip, if they’re able.

“It meant the world to me,” he said. “It was one of the best trips I’ve ever made. The whole trip was just excellent, it couldn’t have been better. Some of the memories it brought back, particularly at the World War II Memorial. It had a division there, a building on one end of the memorial for the Atlantic side and another for the Pacific side. I was on the Pacific side, and some of it all got to me a little bit.”

Although the memories of wartime can often be unpleasant, Coleman said monuments like the World War II Memorial are important to preserve those memories and what they stand for.

“When you’re there, you can’t help but think back and wonder what those men gave up and what their families experienced,” he said. “I made it back all right, but I know what my mom and dad went through. If the kids today had any idea what World War II was about, what Korea was about, it would make a difference. It’s extremely important.”

Coleman lives at the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer and said he’s been encouraging other veterans there to sign on for an Honor Flight trip.

Now 70 years and many generations removed from his service in World War II, Coleman said he still marvels and how that time changed the world.

“I was just a 17-year-old kid when I went in,” he said. “I dropped out of school and it didn’t take about 10 days to realize that was a big mistake. But I grew up a whole lot. It was important, and I made a teeny little bit of a contribution.”

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.