Honor Flight Austin’s program recognizes veteran heroes

July 24, 2025

By Michelle Rodriguez

The Belton Journal

Honor Flight Austin’s program recognizes veteran heroes that served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam for a trip of a lifetime.

“I enjoy making the phone call and telling them they’ve been selected to go on the flight. We give them carry on gear bags with the Honor Flight logo, so everyone has the same sized bag, two blue polo shirts, name tags or a ribbon tag for the bag, and a baseball cap with the Honor Flight logo and branch they were in,” said Maxine Burnett. She’s been volunteering for Honor Flight Austin for ten years.

Veterans that were enlisted before May 1975 are eligible. To sign up, they or a family member can sign them up on the website.

“It started in 2005 to 2006 by a doctor in Ohio that was in a flight club and had a lot of veteran patients. He asked his patients if they would like to see the World War II memorial, and he flew them to the memorial. Today, Honor Flight is in 140 different cities,” said Burnett.

They ask as many people as possible to meet the veterans at the airport. Sometimes, there are as many as one hundred to two hundred people to see them as they arrive back from their trip. The color guard leads them carrying flags while the police play bagpipes and drums.

“The honor flight takes veterans to Washington D.C. to visit all the memorials like WWII, Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean, Tomb of the Unknown, and the Pentagon. We left on a Friday, do it on Saturday, and get back on Saturday night. My favorite part was how you got respected because when I was in the Marine Corps, we weren’t respected. During the Vietnam War, people didn’t like us, we would get spit on, and it would bring tears to our eyes,” said John Casey.

Casey’s trip was in March along with 47 other veterans. People that can’t walk get pushed in a wheelchair. They have paramedics and a guardian, and a military person is assigned to them.

“They put you up in a nice hotel. You have a nice dinner with ribeye steaks and a couple of beers. After dinner, they have a sea story session to talk about experiences in the military. I told about my experience of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It’s real rewarding. It makes you realize that freedom is not free. Some give some and some give all, in other words, they give their life,” said Casey. He is a member of the VFW in Austin, Marine Corps League.

James Proctor and 47 other veterans including three Korean War veterans attended the Honor Flight in May. He was in the Air Force from 1962 through 1982. He was in the Vietnam War.

“You have to submit paperwork and wait because they have so many people. Each veteran has an advocate. I saw the Vietnam Wall, the traveling wall, and my favorite was Arlington. It’s so impressive. It was just a feeling that these places are there to honor all these soldiers. The World War II Memorial is huge,” said Proctor.

Proctor is on the Board of Directors for the Belton Senior Center. He helps the Belton Police Foundation with fundraisers to raise money, a part of CHIPS, and CPAA, the Citizens’ Police Academy Association.

“I think Americans don’t realize how lucky we have it. It’s like a wake-up call,” said Proctor. Honor Flight Austin’s program is a small token of appreciation for those that gave so much. If anybody is interested in attending, they would call 888-530- 8880 or Maxine Burnett 512-632-9680 or visit the website at www.honorflightaustin.org.