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The calendar is quickly filling up for UP Honor Flight in September, when the group is set to carry out two trips to Washington DC.. It will be the first time since 2019 that local World War II, Korean, and Vietnam veterans will head to the capital for an unforgettable visit to the monuments built in their honor. The national chapter has said activities cannot restart until at least June. UP Honor Flight has traditionally avoided the heat of summer due to how different the climate is here, compared to the muggy, almost tropical conditions seen below the Mason-Dixon Line.
President Scott Knauf says it was always the plan to do two runs in a month, although the initial hope was to have it happen in May. He is anxious to reach back out to those who had been scheduled for spring of last year, before COVID-19 shut the excursions down. Knauf says for World War II veterans in particular, any delay hits hard.
Knauf started as a volunteer in 2013, and from his first mission he knew that Honor Flight was special. He has worked up to president and still gets choked up. Every trip is unique and often he won’t know about its true impact until days and weeks later. Knauf says his best contacts are in Marquette and the Ironwood area, but the Copper Country is well represented in its own right.
Knauf says vets are tough and many are skeptical, even now, about how the Honor Flight will impact them. His favorite aspect of the trips are when it rekindles a friendship.
For Knauf, he is excited to bring the Band of Brothers back together again.
