Luke’s Wings CEO on providing transport to wounded veterans
Luke’s Wings CEO, co-founder Fletcher Gill and Marine Corps veteran Edward Schrank join ‘Fox and Friends.’
The nonprofit organization Luke’s Wings is lifting spirits this holiday season by helping reunite service members with their families. Founded in 2008, Luke’s Wings provides complimentary airfare to members going through recovery and rehabilitation.
"Our mission is to reunite wounded warriors, ill and injured service members and veterans in hospice care with their families at the most critical moments," Luke’s Wings CEO and co-founder Fletcher Gill told "Fox & Friends" Thursday. "For 13 years we have been doing that, we have said yes to every flight request we have ever received that fit our mission, over 6,000 flights, and I always like to say we are just getting started."
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Marine Corps veteran Edward Schrank has served the country for 16 years and is a seven-time cancer survivor. Schrank said he became ill due to toxic chemical exposure and Luke’s Wings changed his life.
"When I was connected with Luke’s Wings, doctors told me that they were going to remove my jaw and that I would never speak or eat again, and I would probably lose my life," the Marine Corps veteran said.
Schrank went on to say Luke’s Wings allowed him and his family to focus on his survival and "do more with his life."
Luke’s Wings' CEO mentioned he had the pleasure of getting to know Schrank’s family over the years and it’s an honor to call him a "friend."
"We have flown him to cancer treatments in the morning and had him home before dinner with his wife," Gill said.
Luke’s Wings is currently raising money for its "No Soldier Spends Christmas Alone" campaign. Gill mentioned the organization is experiencing a "huge backlog" of flight requests due to the pandemic.
"We usually do about 1,000 flights a year. In 2021, we hope to do 2,000 flights and I’d like to call all those families and say that we are going to book those flights for them. We have the means to do so, just as soon as they get vaccinated. Any help we can get would be wonderful," Gill said.
The Marine Corps veteran said although he may be considered "disabled," he and other service members are "very capable people."
"I have made the decision to be more capable because of the challenges I have overcome, and Luke’s Wings didn’t do that for me," Schrank said. "They gave me the space to do it for myself. So, if you support Luke’s Wings, that’s what you are doing. You are giving people like me room to do it for myself, and you are helping people, like Fletcher, find more people like me. There is a population of us out there and support Luke’s Wings to make more of that happen."
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For more information, visit LukesWings.org.
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