The trip has not yet been scheduled, said the report, but will likely be scheduled for late September or early October.
It will be the fourth such trip organized by Jeff Ballenger, a businessman [image-nocss] from Council Bluffs. The donation from Casey's comes on the heels of a similar gift made to Honor Flight by Hy-Vee. That trip occurred earlier this month.
"You could just tell: They have a real heart for veterans," Ballenger told the newspaper concerning Casey's management as he announced the gift Tuesday morning outside Casey's headquarters in Ankeny, Iowa.
He said 1,100 World War II veterans die daily, a good reason to send the vets to Washington sooner rather than later. Some 575 Iowa veterans have made the trip already, and hundreds more have signed up to take a trip if it is offered.
Iowa native Boyce Johnson, 84, of Ankeny found out Tuesday that he would be on the next flight. He served as a gunner in the Army Air Force from 1942 to 1946 and said he has not yet been to Washington to see the World War II memorial, which opened in 2004. "It would mean a great deal for me," he told the paper. "It would cap it off for mea cap to a great experience."
Casey's president and CEO Bob Myers said his company believes it has a duty to honor the commitment and sacrifice of 16 million Americans who served during the war and the more than 400,000 who died.
Casey's operates 1,474 convenience stores in Iowa and six other states.
Click herefor the Central Iowa Honor Flight website
Andclick here for the national Honor Flight Network website.
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