Grayson RECC and Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives are joining with the Bluegrass Chapter of the Honor Flight Network to sponsor an Honor Flight for veterans from Kentucky who served during World War II or the Korean War.
This year’s cooperative-sponsored flight to Washington, D.C., takes place on Thursday, October 2.
The co-ops are sponsoring 22 veterans, including a representative from Grayson RECC and other owner-member cooperatives of the East Kentucky Power Cooperative system. This is the fourth consecutive year Grayson RECC and Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives are sponsoring the all-expense paid Honor Flight.
Grayson RECC is sending a local veteran: Private First Class Jack Nuckols, from Ashland, who served in the Marines during World War II.
“The veterans we’ve sponsored the past three years have said it was one of the greatest days of their lives,” said Carol Hall Fraley, President and CEO. “These are people who risked their lives and endured much suffering so the rest of us could enjoy freedom. It’s a pleasure to be able to recognize and express our appreciation for these 20th century veterans.”
Participating veterans will fly from Louisville to Washington, D.C., for a full day of honors and sightseeing. They will visit the World War II Memorial, the Iwo Jima Monument and the Korean War Veterans Memorial before returning home in the evening.
The World War II Memorial pays tribute to the 16 million who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the war, the 400,000-plus who died and all who supported the war effort on the home front.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial honors 341,000 soldiers – 88 percent of them from America – who fought to help democratic South Korea repel an invasion by communist North Korea from 1950-1953. Nearly 34,000 U.S. soldiers died in combat during the conflict.
The Honor Flight sponsored by Grayson RECC and Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives is part of a larger national network that has 127 chapters in 41 states. The inaugural Honor Flight took place in May 2005, when six small planes flew out of Springfield, Ohio, taking 12 veterans.
“As I think of our Honor Flight participants, I’m reminded of the words of Winston Churchill who said, ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,’” said President Fraley. “With that same kind of admiration and gratitude, we at Grayson RECC pay our respects to these genuine Kentucky heroes.”
Story provided by Grayson RECC
