17 local veterans got a special flight in honor of their service

Central coast veterans took to the skies on Saturday in a C-47 aircraft that was used in World War II.

The flight was made possible through the help of local organizations.

“Betsy’s Biscuit Bomber” operated during World War II and was back in action for another special assignment for 17 local military veterans.

“Honor flight wasn’t able to fly back because of COVID to Washington D.C., so we thought it would be really cool to do something local for our veterans,” said Ken Neuman, Estrella Warbird Museum coordinator.

That’s exactly what they did. Gifting them an hour-long flight over Morro Rock and Hearst Castle.

“Oh, I thought it was great,” said WWII veteran Paul King.

It was a flight on a very unique aircraft built in 1943 missing D-Day by just a few months.

“She did a lot of the major drops in WWII over France and in Germany, so she’s got quite the historic war record,” said Gooney Bird chief pilot, Sherman Smoot.

It was an opportunity to give thanks and honor those 17 veterans for their service.

“I grew up in Oahu, so I grew up near the Pearl Harbor exhibit and the USS Arizona. I knew right away that was something powerful that happened in the nation and till this day reflected and made me who I am today,” said Neuman.

“These gentlemen stood tall they did what was asked by their country and I am proud of them and I proud to be part of them,” said Smoot.

Honor Flight Central Coast will take some of these veterans to Washington D.C. later this year but for now, Estrella Warbird Museum said they hope to continue to work with them to make more flights like this happen in the future.