Anyone who had the opportunity to hear Army Air Corp veteran Randall Palmer talk about participating in last year’s Covington Regional Honor Flight would be hard-pressed not to open a wallet and help send other vets like him on a special trip to Washington, D.C.

“I wanted to go so bad,” Palmer said of the opportunity to see the World War II memorial. “I’ll never forget seeing it as long as I live,” Palmer said. “I never would have gotten there without you.”

The CRHF plans to take an additional 50 to 60 veterans to the nation’s Capitol for a similar experience next month, but it is $25,000 and a few veterans and guardians short of its goal.

This year’s trip will be easier than last, when veterans left Covington County at approximately 2 a.m., traveling to Pensacola by bus to catch a plane. This year, a chartered flight will pick up veterans at the South Alabama Regional Airport.

The trip is free for veterans, but guardians who travel with the vets and assist them in the trip are responsible for the $550 it costs for them to participate.

The group is concentrating on taking WWII and Korean veterans to Washington.

Any veteran interested in applying for a seat on the flight should contact Tonitta Sauls at 334-504-1450 or Pam Steele at 334-428-2619. Those interested in being a guardian should call either Sauls or Steele.

Those who wish to contribute to the travel expense may send tax-deductible contributions to: CRHF, c/o Covington County Commission, P.O. Box 188, Andalusia, AL 36420.