Dream Flight honors four local WWII veterans

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Clear blue skies and the vintage Stearman biplane “Yellow Peril” awaited four Jefferson County veterans at the Million Air runway in Tallahassee on April 26. The “Dream Flight” date had arrived for George Pittman, John Finlayson, Charles Reichert and John Haynes.
Dream Flights is a non-profit organization established and dedicated to honoring seniors and military veterans. It aims to provide the adventure of a lifetime – a flight in a Boeing Stearman biplane – to inspire them to share their stories. The organization collects, preserves and shares those stories of “how they survived through times of great strife to remind us of our shared humanity, our connection to each other and the value of listening.”
“I thought it was a real honor to be recognized and provided with flight services for WWII veterans in honor and appreciation for a job well done,” said WWII Army Veteran George Pittman. “It was a wonderful experience.”
WWII Navy Veteran Charles Reichert said, “It was a great flight. It was unbelievable, really. I have been in small planes before but not one with an open cockpit. The people were very competent and encouraging.”
95-year-old John Finlayson was excited to be the youngest WWII Veteran in the group. He said, “Well, they called it a dream flight, and that's pretty much what it was. Being in a 75-year-old open cockpit biplane and flying all around Tallahassee was a lot of fun. The pilot and crew were just as cordial as could be.”
Sport Clips Haircuts is the major sponsor of these events, and Dream Flights generally take off from airports in cities with Sport Clips locations. Liz Crawford, owner of several Sport Clips in Tallahassee, said, “Dream Flights was started so that we could give these vets an exhilarating experience to remind them of their youth. This flight was catered by Mission BBQ, and the colors were presented by the Leon High School JROTC. The veterans fly around the capital and see the sights from the air. When the come off the plane, their faces are lit up.”
Crawford says that they had previously sponsored a Dream Flight here last September, and now they have honored almost all of the WWII veterans in this area. Next they will move on to honor veterans of the Korean War with the Dream Flights experience.