If you can’t make the homecoming, but want to help–consider one of the following items:

1. Find eligible veterans and have them apply to travel with HFD. We want to take them to DC! These memorials were built for them.  They need to know that they are our heroes.

2. You can write thank you letters for the veterans. We have a “Mail Call” on every flight and try to give every veteran at least ten pieces of mail. They can be personal, from school kids, from civic groups, or from anyone.  It really helps supplement what they get from their immediate families.  There may be paper/envelopes in the gate area if you want to write thank you letters to these heroes while you wait. 

3. You can apply to be a guardian. Each veteran is assigned a guardian for their flight. The guardian’s job is to take care of their veteran all day and return them safely to their families.  Each guardian pays their own way, full price, for the privilege of doing this.

4. If you find families of deceased WWII, Korean and Vietnam War heroes, or know qualifying veterans who are unable to travel (we are equipped to handle many medical situations you may think would prevent traveling with us), we can still honor their service. We run a program called “Honoring Yesterday’s Heroes”. See our website or ask our representatives in the gate area.  This service is free.

5. You can officially volunteer! There are applications on our website. We need ground crew personnel, people to make phone calls, aid in organizing events, etc.  We can never have too many volunteers.  Our volunteers are the core of the entire program.  Each volunteer serves a purpose and has big impacts

Applications for veterans, guardians, volunteers, and Honoring Yesterday’s Heroes can all be found under the forms tab on the home page.