World War II veterans who took part in Honor Flight Network trips over the past several years will be recognized at an event and featured in a movie being shown at another event in coming days.
On Saturday, the Honor Flight Celebration Party will be held at the MAPS Air Museum, 2260 International Parkway, Green.
Doors to the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to World War II veterans who took part in Honor Flights, with a program at 1 p.m. featuring speaker Earl Morse, a retired physician assistant and Air Force captain. He started Honor Flights in Ohio in 2005 as a way to take World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit the World War II Memorial and other landmarks.
The event is free of charge. Money for the program comes from funds left over from the local Honor Flight organization and from corporate sponsors.
In addition to the daytime program, there will be a dinner and dance at the museum from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. (The reservation deadline for the dinner and dance has passed.)
Through the end of 2012, nearly 100,000 WWII veterans flew on Honor Flights out of 41 states, according to www.honorflight.org.
Honor flights from Akron-Canton Airport took 1,100 World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., on 11 trips, with the final flight last fall.
For more on the MAPS Air Museum, go to www.mapsairmuseum.org or call 330-896-6332.
On May 4, the film Honor Flight: The Last Mission will be shown at the Medina Community Theater, 139 W. Liberty St., in an event sponsored by HMC Hospice of Medina County and the theater. It will be the movie’s first area screening.
The film focuses on Honor Flights out of Wisconsin.
“HMC Hospice of Medina County is thrilled to bring this heartwarming story to our community,” Executive Director Pat Stropko-O’Leary said.
Doors open at 2:30 p.m., with the screening at 3 p.m.
Admission is free to all veterans, but reservations are required. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $2 for students.
Seating is limited to 200 people.
For reservations, call 330-722-4771, ext. 235, or go to http://honorflightmedina.eventbrite.com/.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or at jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.