Last year, Baldwin County resident Stan Keel went on what many would consider to be the trip of a lifetime.

Thanks to an organization called Honor Air, Keel, a World War II veteran, went on an all-expenses paid trip to see the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. from his summer home in Hendersonville, N.C.

Keel made the trip with approximately 120 other veterans and 62 support staff from Henderson County.

They took one day to tour the memorial and other sites in the nation’s capitol, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Washington Monument and Arlington National Cemetery.

They also got the opportunity to meet with North Carolina Congresswoman Elizabeth Dole and her husband, former senator and presidential hopeful Bob Dole.

“It was an incredible experience,” Keel said.

But he was shocked to find out that when he returned to his home in Fairhope, not only was the program not available in the area, but that barely anyone in Mobile or Baldwin counties had ever heard of the program.

“I know we’d have enough people from this area interested in making the trip if we could just get the word out,” Keel said. “That is my goal to make sure as many people as possible know about this program.”

The National Honor Flight program, based in Springfield, Ohio, is a nationwide organization dedicated to flying World War II veterans to see the memorial.

Honor Flight flew over 5,000 veterans, free of charge, to see the memorial last year, over 900 on Veteran’s Day weekend alone.

In the fall of 2007 Honor Flight implemented its “Their Last Chance” Program, focusing on veterans with terminal illness who have never had a previous oppoutunity to tour the memorial.

Honor Flight has also implemented the “Lone Eagle Program” for World War II veterans who have been on Honor Flight’s waiting list for over a year, but no Honor Flight Network Hub exists in their area of the United States. On Veteran’s Day weekend, veterans from Illinois, Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Florida and Utah participated in the program.

According to a press release issued by the Honor Flight Network in November, there are presently over 3,000 World War II veterans on the Honor Flight Network waiting list.

The press release quoted the Department of Veterans Affairs and Arlington National Cemetery statistics which reported that in 2007 about 1,200 World War II veterans died every day. At the time of the report, the youngest World War II veteran was 79 years old.

Nationally the organization hopes to help over 10,000 veterans visit the memorial.

Keel said, with the help of fellow Fairhope resident and World War II veteran Harry Moreland, he has signed up five people for the program.

Currently the closest Honor Flight program to the area is located in Prattville which recently sent over 100 residents from central and south Alabama to see the memorial.

Moreland said he lived in Washington, D.C., for a time, and wants to do all he can to help more residents get involved with the program.

“We need to do this before it’s too late,” Moreland said.

While Moreland said he has no plans himself to visit the memorial, Keel said he is still working on it.

“I think he should go,” Keel said.

For more information about Honor Flight, contact Earl Morse at (937) 521-2400, email HonorFlight@aol.com or go online to www.honorflight.org. For local information, contact Keel at (251) 929-3394.