Honor tour flight to originate from Cape Girardeau for the first time

When the Wake Foundation organizes a Veterans Honor Tour from Southeast Missouri to Washington, D.C., the vets normally must board a flight out of St. Louis.

Next month, they'll be flying out of Cape Girardeau Regional Airport in northern Scott County.

"We didn't have a (tour) last year due to COVID and I just got to thinking, what an awesome thing if we could do this out of Cape Girardeau for the very first time," said Robert D. Wake, a Kennett, Missouri native and co-founder of the Wake Foundation.

Wake has a special heart for men and women who served in the military.

Wake, 58, is a U.S. Army veteran who received a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq in 2004.

Flight details

"We will have 30 veterans, including one from the Puxico area, plus 20 caretakers and we'll leave Friday, Oct. 8, at 8:30 a.m. out of Cape Regional to D.C. and will return to Cape Sunday," said Wake, who said his foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, selects the veterans who will go.

"I think we had 42 (veteran) applications this time and we start with World War II and Korean War veterans, moving from oldest to youngest in age, and then we turn to Vietnam War vets."

Wake said the three-day excursion will include visits to the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam Veterans memorials and visits to the Pentagon, White House and Arlington National Cemetery.

Finances

"We pay for all expenses of the (selected) veterans," Wake said, but noted the caretakers are asked to pay their way -- approximately $700 for the weekend journey.

"It's an expensive flight for us and we generally spend $50,000 to $60,000 on each Honor Tour with the flights alone costing $21,500."

Wake said the foundation fundraises via sponsorships, raffles and through the not-for-profit's website, wakefoundation.org.

"There's a lot of people who love the Honor Tour and we really get a lot of support from the community."

Oct. 8 sendoff

Katrina Amos, Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager, said her staff is still finalizing some of the details, "but our goal is to make sure each veteran feels celebrated from the moment of arrival at CGI. We are very excited to work with the Wake Foundation and United Airlines -- operated by SkyWest -- to support a veterans' honor flight. To be able to celebrate the veterans in our region and have the flight originate out of Cape Girardeau Regional is truly an honor."

The Wake Foundation's website says the organization's primary goal is "to help increase the number of injured veterans who can participate in rehabilitative social and outdoor events."

Wake told the Southeast Missourian limited mobility is not an issue for the veterans traveling on the flight.

"The plane will be able to accommodate as many as 17 wheelchairs," Wake said.