On March 9, veterans, FFA members and ag boosters will join together in Los Banos to help fund opportunities for veterans, including Los Banos veterans, to participate in a unique experience —Honor Flight.
On that Monday evening between 4 and 7 p.m. at the Los Banos DES Hall (1155 I Street), Los Banos Veterans and Ag Boosters and FFA students will serve a drive-through rigatoni dinner, with all proceeds going to the Central Valley Honor Flight.
Tickets are $12 and can be purchased from any Los Banos veteran or by calling veteran Mike Hughes at 209.704.5301. The meal includes a generous portion of rigatoni, a roll and a cookie.
The Honor Flight dinner has been a tradition in Los Banos for many years, raising a total of more than $200,000 to support Honor Flights, as Paul Loeffler noted during the Milliken Museum event at the Los Banos Arts Center on Feb. 25.
The idea began with Los Banos High School FFA students, who joined forces with members of Los Banos VFW Post 2487 and American Legion Post 166.
In recent years the Los Banos Ag Boosters (parents and friends of Future Farmers of America students) also joined to provide further help, led by Don Baker.
The Central Valley Honor Flight, as its website explains, is a nonprofit organization committed to honoring local WWII veterans, Korean War veterans and Vietnam veterans by sending them to Washington, D.C., to see their memorials.
For the past 12 years Central Valley Honor Flights have transported veterans and their guardians to the nation’s capital.
One of the founders of the Central Valley Honor Flight is Loeffler, who was born and raised in Los Banos. Loeffler has been a longtime sportscaster in Fresno, broadcasting Fresno State football, basketball and baseball games.
Loeffler also is the producer of Hometown Heroes, a syndicated radio show he has hosted for the past 17 years, in which he interviews veterans and, as he said on his website, “shines a spotlight on history through the eyes of those who lived it, America’s veterans.”
When co-founding the Central Valley Honor Flight, Loeffler wrote on the CVHF website, “The mission of the Honor Flight was clear–to send as many veterans as we could to see their memorials in Washington D.C.”
When the first Honor Flight was being planned, Loeffler added, it “wasn’t clear at the time how the community would respond. We quickly discovered overwhelming support for the effort and the veterans who participate.
“We couldn’t be prouder of our heroes and our community’s accomplishments during this multi-year endeavor,” said Loeffler, “and there is still much to be done.”
In the beginning the Central Valley Honor Flight focused on veterans who served in World War II but later expanded to include veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Central Valley Honor Flights have transported more than 700 World War II veterans and more than 300 Korean War veterans. Now many of the veterans on the flights are those who served in Vietnam.
Mike Hughes, the commander of the Los Banos VFW post, appreciates that recent Honor Flights have included Vietnam veterans. “Many veterans of Vietnam were never truly honored for their service. The Honor Flight is a good way to give them the honor they deserve.”
“Over the years,” Hughes said, “Los Banos residents have responded generously and purchased many meals for this fundraiser. I expect another big turnout on March 9.”
John Spevak’s email is john.spevak@gmail.com.
