BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Honor Flight Kern County announced it will send its first vets since the start of the pandemic with funding from some local youth.
Honor Flight is a nonprofit that sends veterans on trips to Washington D.C.
This will also be the first trip Honor Flight Kern County will send a veteran who was our ally from another country to the capitol. Ronald Holdsworth is one of those people.
“We said you can go and he was over the moon,” Director of Honor Flight Kern County Lili Marsh said.
Marsh said Holdsworth was an ally who served in the British Royal Air Force during World War II between 1939 -1946.
The other veteran that will be joining Holdsworth on this trip is Charles Nott a Korean war veteran.
At the capitol they will go to the World War II, Korean and Vietnam memorials. They will also visit and place a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.
“We need to get them back there now and get them healed up after all these years of carrying that burden right there [in their minds] and they come back different people,” Marsh said. “Families will often say, I don’t know who you brought back but it’s great. You can tell they left it there, it’s gone.”
We asked Holdsworth for a message for the youth of this generation and he said they should do what they think is right.
“There’s so many things that they should do and shouldn’t do,” Holdsworth said. “Like I said before, do what you think is right, for your country, for your family.”
The trip will be paid for by an American classic, a lemonade stand run by youth from the community.
The kids raised about $3,000.
Josette Binns a volunteer for the lemonade stand says she was happy to meet the vets going on the trip.
“I thought it was very nice, they were very nice to me and I really appreciated it,” Bins said “Also I very appreciated the hugs cuz I really liked hugs.”
Holdsworth will be celebrating his 100 birthday a day before his trip in September. Be sure to tune back in with us at KGET as we see Ronald and Charles off on their trip.
