Bill Quinn of Charlotte served in an Army chemical mortar battalion from 1942 to 1946.   WWII veteran Wallace Duncan served in the Marines.   WWII veteran Bill Quinn holds the Purple Heart he was awarded.

During World War II, 16 million Americans served their country, and 400,000 gave their lives. On April 18, about 100 veterans from central North Carolina will make the trip from Charlotte to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorial dedicated to their sacrifices.

“It’s a way to give something back to all these brave people,” says Steve Brandt, public relations chair for Rotary District 7680, which is sponsoring and organizing the trip, dubbed the Flight of Honor.

It’s an extension of Honor Air, a program started by Hendersonville, N.C. businessman and civic leader Jeff Miller. Since Miller launched Honor Air in 2006, over 60 chartered flights have taken thousands of veterans to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C, dedicated in 2004.

“This is a very unique generation of men who defended our country,” said Brandt. “Most are in their late 70s and 80s, and are dying now at a rate of 1,200 to 1,500 per day nationally.”

To help as many veterans as possible make the trip, Mooresville resident Bob Wilson, the governor of Rotary District 7680, decided to organize the Flight of Honor. The project started last November when organizers began recruiting veterans. In order to be eligible, veterans must be able to fly and ride a bus without suffering from motion or air sickness, and be able to walk the length of a football field without assistance.

Accompanying the veterans on the one-day trip will be various guardians, doctors and medical personnel to help with any physical or health needs. In addition to the World War II Memorial, they will also be bused to the Vietnam and Korean Memorials, as well as Arlington Cemetery. “This is our inaugural flight, so we’ve had some pioneering to do, but there’s been a lot of cooperation and the momentum continues to build,” says Mitzi Ellis, chairperson of the Rotary Flight of Honor.

Local vets recall conflict
The upcoming trip is especially poignant for men like Bill Quinn of Charlotte, who served in an Army chemical mortar battalion from 1942 to 1946.

On May 5, 1945, Quinn was riding in the lead Jeep of his battalion’s task force just outside Linz, Austria, when an unseen combatant fired. “We were looking for trouble and I guess we found it,” Quinn, 87, recently recalled.

A bullet ripped through the side of the Jeep and pierced Quinn’s right leg. The impact also sprayed bits of metal and shrapnel into Quinn’s right arm. “I was 90 miles from the nearest hospital,” Quinn said.

Luckily, Quinn’s task force had a Jeep ambulance, and he was taken to an aid station, where there were several casualties. Once he was stabilized, Quinn then transferred to a hospital in Germany where doctors performed surgery on his leg. He spent the next 19 months in various hospitals receiving medical care, and today is considered 100 percent disabled. (Just hours after Quinn was shot, a ceasefire was ordered around that Austrian region).

Joining Quinn on the trip will be Mint Hill resident Wallace Duncan. Duncan served in the Marines and in 1942 shipped out from San Diego and sailed straight into combat in Marshall Islands, a Micronesian nation of atolls in the Pacific Ocean.

Two years later, shortly after he turned 19, Duncan and his platoon landed on the island of Saipan. “They (Japanese) were well entrenched,” recalled Duncan, 83. “They could see us but we couldn’t see them. They were picking off a couple of our guys seemed like every day. We were up on a hillside near the Japanese command post when a mortar round came in and got four of us.”

Duncan took shrapnel to his legs and neck, and was taken via ship to Maui, Hawaii. “They patched me up and sent me out to Iwo Jima. I was absolutely terrified. We lost a lot of men on that island, and I saw some really grotesque, horrible things. But you just have to put it in the back of your mind.”

Support needed
Local Rotarians continue to identify and recruit veterans from the area. Rotary District 7680 – which includes 52 clubs within 14 counties – is also seeking donations from corporations, churches, civic clubs and individuals from surrounding counties. It costs $500 to send a veteran, and $200 to send a guardian.

“All the Rotarians in this district feel honored and privileged to be a part of this and to give back to our World War II veterans,” says Ellis. “And we really need the community’s help to make this trip a dream come true for them.”

For more information about how to apply for the Flight of Honor, or to make a contribution, go to www.flightofhonor.org.