LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Well into retirement Doug Foster hardly has a moment to debrief.

“Our chapter has hosted over 26-hundred veterans,” Foster reports.

His Louisville home is the command center for Honor Flight: Bluegrass. Honor Flight is the volunteer organization helping veterans visit the memorials built in their honor in Washington D.C. A single trip costs roughly $100,000 but veterans do not pay a penny for the experience.

“The look of joy on their faces… the tears they are shedding, it’s just phenomenal,” Foster says. The Vietnam Veteran has been a volunteer with the Bluegrass chapter since its first trip in 2007. He is also a former Vice President and Board Chair for the Kentucky chapter.

“For a few years, I was a guardian. And one time I showed up and they said ok. You’re a bus captain today. Well then you ought to sit in on the board and I was like OK. Well, you ought to be vice president and I was like, OK.”

On October 16, Foster and 130 other veterans will once again take to the sky for a jammed packed, single-day trip to Washington D.C. Fundraising happens almost around-the-clock. The public is encouraged to be a part of the welcome home ceremony at Muhammad Ali International Airport at 9:30 PM.

You can help a veteran participate in a future trip by clicking this link.