An effort is underway in Jasper County to raise 80-thousand dollars for an “Honor Flight” to take veterans to Washington, D.C. to see memorials in their honor. Jasper County Treasurer, Doug Bishop, has already been involved in five such flights involving central Iowans.
Bishop says the county did its own Honor Flight last year for World War Two veterans and decided to do one for Korean and Vietnam era veterans this year. He says there’s already growing interest in the flight. Bishop says they found out they have four or five World War Two vets that want to go, so they are going to be aggressive and try to charter a 737 to fly them. He says they hope to raise enough funds to hold the flight in October. A weekend fundraiser took in $1,500.
The next fundraiser includes a raffle for an autographed racing helmet signed by all the Indy drivers in the June 25th race at the Iowa Speedway.
By Randy Van, KCOB, Newton