TeenHelp - Veterans Airlift Command

Article featured in Avatar - Volume 3, Issue 2 (August 2009).

Veterans Airlift Command
by Katrina

With many injured war veterans coming home each and every day, this month TeenHelp's Cause of the Month is a phenomenal organization called Veterans Airlift Command.

Unfortunately, there are many current and former soldiers who need medical assistance but do not have a means of transportation from state to state, or country to country. Furthermore, there are also many families of veterans and current soldiers who would love nothing more than to visit their family member or friend in what might be their last weeks. Veterans Airlift Command "provides free air transportation to wounded warriors, veterans and their families for medical and other compassionate purposes through a national network of volunteer aircraft owners and pilots."

Basically, VAC works with a number of different people who all have something to give to this great organization. Firstly, they must find individuals and companies that are gracious enough to volunteer their planes and services (that is, pilots to fly the planes.) Also, VAC recognizes all financial donors on their website, whether the financial contribution is $100,000 or $100, every bit is appreciated. Lastly, VAC is very grateful to other websites who support and advertise VAC —without these websites, VAC may not be as prominent as it fortunately is today.

"Our priority is on the veterans of Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). As capacity allows, our mission will expand to serve veterans of other conflicts."

VAC was founded by Walt Fricke, whose own experiences inspired him to found this incredibly organization. As Fricke states:

"I spent six months in a hospital 700 miles from my hometown recovering from combat injuries sustained while flying a helicopter in Vietnam. My healing began in earnest when my family was able to gather the resources to make a trip to visit me."

VAC functions in a very unique way. On the website, www.veteransairlift.org, a list is updated constantly containing "Open Unassigned Missions," which are missions that still need to be taken care of, but still need an aircraft, pilot, or both. Thanks to great organizations such as VAC as well as compassionate individuals, the list of completed missions is far, far longer than the list of "Open Unassigned Missions."

"As citizens, we owe an enormous debt to those who have sacrificed for our country. It's a debt that would be impossible to repay. But that won't stop us from trying."

Current miles flown total at 796,093 due to the donations of both time and money. Countless stories of families being brought together and the wounded soldiers and veterans not being left behind couldn't have been made a reality if not for the wonderful Veterans Airlift Command. For more information about this cause and how to volunteer to help, please visit the website.