PICKENS — “Every good thing I have in my life, I can thank veterans for, especially the World War II veterans,” said Pickens County Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan.

Pickens County residents have a great opportunity to help say thank you to World War II veterans by helping the first-ever Pickens County Honor Flight take flight.

The Honor Flight Network flies World War II veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the World War II memorial, at no cost to the veterans.

The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and American Legion Pickens Post 11 are teaming up to make the Pickens County flight a reality.

“It’s not about any one organization” Morgan said. “It’s about saying thank you to these veterans for the job that they’ve done.”

The Honor Flight Program was started by military surgeon Earl Morse, who saw that many WWII veterans did not have the financial means to visit the memorial themselves.

Morse then used his own plane to begin flying veterans to visit the memorial, and other historic sites in our nation’s capitol.

“He would fly one or two at a time to take them over and let them see it,” said Betty Waldrep with Simpsonville-based Honor Flight Upstate. .

The program then expanded so much that commercial airliners needed to be chartered to meet the growing demand.

Every day, between 1,200 and 1,500 World War II veterans pass away.

“These people are running out of time,” Waldrep said.

Veterans arriving in Washington on an Honor Flight received a hero’s welcome, Waldrep said.

“It was just the best thing,” she said. “Everywhere we went, total strangers would come up and thank these veterans for their service. It meant a lot to everybody.”

Morgan estimates that about $500 will be needed to send each veteran on the flight.

“I’m hoping that extended families will pitch in to send their Uncle Joes on the flights,” he said. “I also hope that churches will take on the project and raise funds to send their vets on the flight.”

Veterans pay no costs themselves for the flight, Morgan said.

“It’s their day,” he said. “They’re catered to all the way.”

Guardians are needed to accompany veterans and see to their needs during the special day, Waldrep said.

“Guardians just go along and help,” she said.

Guardians pay $300 to accompany the flight.

Physicians and nurse also accompany the veterans during the trip.

Fundraising is key to make the Pickens County Honor Flight happen.

Morgan and Legion members will be making presentations to local churches, schools and civic organizations to help raises funds.

“We’re accepting donations, even if it’s just a dollar,” Morgan said. “Every little bit

helps.”

The groups are shooting for an available flight in mid-May, although they can wait for another in September if funds are not available.

Honor Flight tries to schedule flights for the spring and the fall, to avoid extreme weather conditions.

The groups hope to fill a charter plane with veterans and guardians.

“I hope we can send a plane full of Pickens County vets, as a way of saying thank you to our Pickens County guys and gals,” Morgan said.

For more information, contact Morgan at by phone at 898-5501 or email timm@co.pickens.sc.us or Richard Reese as Post 11 at 878-1014 or richardreece@bellsouth.net.