BISMARCK -- North Dakota's 11th and presumably final Honor Flight leaves Friday for Washington, D.C.
About 125 World War II veterans will participate in the Rough Rider Honor Flight to see the memorial built in their honor.
That will bring the total number of World War II veterans who have participated in North Dakota-based Honor Flights to more than 1,300.
"I'm sure there's not another state that has covered as high a percentage of their World War II veterans as we have," said Kevin Cramer, chairman of the Rough Rider Honor Flight, an organization based in Bismarck.
Lance Akers of Pelican Rapids, Minn., who is involved with the national Honor Flight Network as a fundraising adviser, said the average state does about three or four flights.
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Some states such as Florida, with a high concentration of retirees, and Ohio, the birthplace of Honor Flight, have had more trips, Akers said.
Still, he estimates that North Dakota and Minnesota rank about sixth or seventh in the country in their support for World War II veterans to visit the memorial.
"We kind of set the standard for the rest of the United States," Akers said.
The Honor Flights are free for the veterans, supported by private donations.
Four WDAY Honor Flights took about 675 veterans in 2007 and 2008, said Tracy Briggs, the former WDAY radio personality who led the trips.
Two Northern Valley Honor Flights that left from Grand Forks brought nearly 200 veterans.
This will be the fifth trip organized by Rough Rider Honor Flight.
Among those on the trip will be Bill Zabilka, a World War II Army Air Corps veteran who recently retired to Fargo.
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Zabilka, 86, originally from Iowa, said he waited to sign up for an Honor Flight to let other veterans go first.
"I wanted the veterans who were in action to go before me," Zabilka said. "I wanted them to be first."
James Dixon of Fargo recruited two of his friends who are also World War II veterans to go on the trip with him.
Dixon, 86, also served in the Air Corps.
"I'm very happy to be able to go there and see all this stuff that I haven't seen before," Dixon said.
The veterans will visit the Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean memorials on Friday. On Saturday, they'll visit the World War II and Iwo Jima memorials and Arlington National Cemetery.
This is expected to be the final Honor Flight from North Dakota. A group from South Dakota will be visiting the World War II memorial at the same time.
Of the 16 million Americans who served during World War II, it's estimated that 69,000 were from North Dakota and more than 326,000 were from Minnesota.
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Beth Bouley, a trip organizer, estimates that about 40 veterans who applied for one of the Bismarck trips died before they had a chance to go on the trip.
"That just hurts to no end that we lost them before we could get them there," said Bouley of Grand Forks.
Dalrymple reports for Forum Communications Co., which owns the Herald.
North Dakota WWII vets
Number of North Dakota residents who report being World War II veterans, according to U.S. Census data and a Census survey:
- 2009: 5,105
- 2000: 12,152
- 1990: 19,496
