Welcome to the July issue of the Metropolitan Airport News. Over our years at the airport, we have met many people who have served our country and we have known the families of our dedicated Service Members. It’s a sacrifice that we appreciate every day. While we highlight our amazing military throughout the year, it is in our July issue that we partner with our advertisers to make a difference. Through our Charitable Giving Campaigns, we have donated over $45,000 to local organizations serving our Active Military, Veterans, and students of the Aviation Industry.
This year we are honoring Big Apple Honor Flight.
Big Apple Honor Flight has a really important and time-sensitive mission to work with our nation’s Veterans and let them know that their sacrifice on the battlefield and beyond is still appreciated to this day. It’s a message that many of our Veterans don’t receive often enough. The sacrifice to their personal safety, their families, and their enduring physical and mental health is something they live with every day, even if it’s from 50 years ago. They pay the price for our freedom and safety at home. It’s not just the 4 years they served or the tours they did. They bring all of that trauma home with them. Many choose to remain silent about what they’ve experienced, which becomes an additional invisible burden of their wounds.
So when Big Apple Honor Flight puts together a trip to Washington D.C. to bring these heroes to visit the monuments erected to honor them, it’s a profound experience. Many who participate reminisce about the good times and also reveal the ugly parts as well. For some, the healing begins.
While we enjoy the freedoms that we have, always remember that freedom has a price.
I offer a special thank you to our advertisers who participate in our Giving Campaigns, making a difference at home! I will add that I first learned about Honor Flight from our dearly missed Editor in Chief Joe Alba. Joe never missed an Honor Flight that took off in Westchester. He was proud to rally around our heroes and give them the send-off they deserve. Joe too was a hero Marine, but he was happier cheering the Honor Flight Veterans on rather than being cheered on.
I hope your summer is off to a wonderful start. There are many things going on to enjoy at the airports, meetings are occurring in person and events are back in full swing. Check out the Metropolitan Airport News events calendar to see what’s going on.
