Last Call for Honor Flight Documentary on DVD

Sales of the Honor Flight documentary that set a Guinness-recognized world record and has been shown at many film festivals will end on Sunday, and organization leaders are hoping area residents will use the final days to support the group's cause.

"You can continue to help us out buy purchasing the film on DVD," founder Joe Dean said in an e-mail to Patch. "Click here to place your order. It's just $19.99 plus shipping and the proceeds will help us fly more veterans."

The film was directed by Wauwatosa native Dan Hayes, who was inspired to make the documentary in 2009. After he collected stories from the veterans and shortly thereafter cut together a five-minute film, he realized there was greater potential.

Here's more information about the DVD from a press release from Honor Flight:

Thanks to the generous support of We Energies for underwriting the production costs of the DVD, the purchase of each DVD goes even further in supporting the mission of SSHF to fly as many veterans as possible to Washington, DC.

• Related: Thousands Show Up for Honor Flight's Big Screen Premiere

The film Honor Flight, which the Los Angeles Times calls "enormously moving," and the  Chicago Tribune says is "a profound tribute to America's brave, often unsung WWII veterans" is still playing in theaters nationwide in more than 20 markets with new screenings added weekly. It's on track to becoming the largest "audience driven" screening of all time. 

The film features four Milwaukee area World War II veterans and the local volunteers of the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight chapter.  Honor Flight hubs across the country are using the film to raise awareness about the program and raise funds to fly veterans from their communities.

Honor Flight also holds the Guinness World Record for the largest film screening ever when it premiered at Miller Park on August 11, 2012 for a crowd of 28,442.There have also been screenings at other unique locations including the US Capitol, Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall, the Navy Memorial and was the featured film at the Naples Film Festival. To date, nearly 53,000 people have seen the film.

Honor Flight is a national, all-volunteer program with 117 hubs from coast to coast.  The WWII Memorial did not open until 2004 and many veterans are unable to visit it without assistance.  According to the VA, a WWII veteran dies every 90 seconds in the US. The average age of a WWII veteran is 89 years old. Nationally, Honor Flight has taken 100,000 veterans to see their memorials.  

Track the latest news from the film's website: HonorFlightTheMovie.com.