Gonzales veteran talks Honor Flight

Not many people get a chance to travel to the nation’s capitol in Washington D.C., but one lucky veteran from Gonzales did.

Retired Navy and Vietnam Veteran Seaborn Rountree got chance to join other veterans from Vietnam, Korea and World War II and flew to Washington D.C with Honor Flight Austin.

The Honor Flight Austin was created in 2012 with National Honor Flight with 130 hubs around the United States to help veterans, especially World War II Veterans, to visit their memorials.

Steve Quackerbush, the CEO of Honor Flight Austin, said when the World War II memorial was complete, the remaining WWII veterans were interested in seeing it.

“The program was created and over 250,000 veterans have participated around the nation and Honor Flight Austin we've flown 3000 so far from Central Texas.” Quackerbush stated.

Veterans that served prior to May of 1975 are eligible for the Honor Flight to see the memorials dedicated to them.

The Veterans get to travel to see the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, the Marine Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Army Memorial, Navy Memorial, and the FDR Memorial.

“That's the last stop [the FDR Memorial] before we head back to the airport on Saturday. Come home so we're actually only out of town for about 30 hours, but we get a whole lot done in 30 hours.”

Rountree was impressed by the trip and recommends other veterans (prior to 1975) to sign up for an Honor Flight.

“It was a great trip and everybody, all veterans, should be able to go on it.” Rountree Said.

Rountree recommends the Austin Honor Flight and he added that they take care the veterans on the flights, and they make sure nobody gets loss or misses the bus.

The organization is 100 percent volunteer, and Quakerbush explains how important it is.

“We volunteer to honor our veterans and really our call to action is help us find more veterans to honor with a trip of a lifetime.” Quackerbush said. “So right now, to qualify if you serve prior to May of 1975 anywhere on the globe. You're eligible to fly with honor flight.”

Honor Flight Austin serves the following counties: Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Gillespie, Gonzales, Hays, Lee, Llano, Milam, Travis, and Williamson.

For more information on where to sign up please go to https://honorflightaustin.org/.