Trace Atkins Partners With Clint Eastwood To Assist Veterans

A Hollywood great and a country music icon have volunteered their time to film spots in support of The Honor Flight Network, which is a nonprofit organization that arranges and finances trips for America's veterans to visit their war memorials in Washington, D.C.

Clint Eastwood and Trace Adkins each filmed a 60-second spot to help raise money for honor flights. The spots will air before feature films at over 1,600 movie theatres nationwide. Each spot ends by encouraging audience members to donate to the program.

"When we first envisioned this project, Clint Eastwood and Trace Adkins were at the top of our wish list," said Earl Morse, President and Co-Founder of the Honor Flight Network. "Both are widely known for their outstanding support of our nation's veterans. We are amazed and humbled that they agreed to participate."

Eastwood, an Army veteran himself, has directed two World War II dramas, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima.

"The brave men and women of the military who served their country with honor deserve to see the memorials that honor them," Eastwood said. "I'm happy to play a role in hopefully raising funds and awareness for this noble cause."

Adkins has charted more than 25 singles on the Billboard country music charts. One of his most powerful songs, "Arlington," is about Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting-place of a quarter of a million of America's veterans.

"With the song Arlington, I've been fortunate enough to connect with many of our nation's veterans," Adkins said. "They've given me much more than I could ever give them. That's why I was happy to participate in this project when approached about it."

The Honor Flight Network has taken almost 20,000 veterans to the WWII memorial and has over 8,000 more on a waiting list. Top priority is given to World War II survivors and terminally ill veterans.

"There's a real urgency to this," Morse explained. "Unfortunately, we are losing thousands of our World War II veterans every day. With the support of Mr. Eastwood and Mr. Adkins, we hope we will be able to fill the need before too much time is lost."

The Honor Flight Network was conceived by Earl Morse, a physician assistant and retired Air Force captain. The inaugural Honor Flight took place in May 2005. Six small planes flew out of Springfield, Ohio, taking 12 World War II veterans on a visit to their memorial in Washington, D.C. In August 2005, an ever-expanding waiting list of veterans led the group to transition to commercial airline carriers. Jeff Miller, from Hendersonville, North Carolina, later developed a chartered flight program with the same goal, called HonorAir. In early 2007, the two combined programs to form the Honor Flight Network. The group's goal is to assist every veteran in America, who is willing and able to get on a plane or a bus, in getting to their memorial.