Bill Dukes & Honor Flight of South Carolina
William B. Dukes
Chapin, South Carolina
Business Experience
Current - Owner- Blue Marlin Restaurant, and Blue Marlin Signature Catering- Columbia; Co-Founder of Longhorn Steakhouse - 1981; Longhorn Steakhouse Joint Venture Partner in SC and NC; Senior VP- Steak and Ale Restaurants.
Community
Board of Trustees- Newberry College (2002-2010); Commissioner, Columbia Airport Commission(2002-Present); Advisor Lt. Governors Office of Aging (2000-2010); Delegate to White House Conference on Aging(2001); Chairman, Columbia Convention Center Authority(1998-2008); Board of Directors, Special Olympics of SC; Volunteer Pilot – Angel Flight; Past President, Charlotte Restaurant Association; Past Director, Charlotte and Columbia Chambers of Commerce.
University of South Carolina
Endowed Scholarship-1988; Life Time Gamecock Club Member; Life Time Member of USC Alumni Club; Member, USC Education Foundation Board-1989-1998; USC Alumni Board of Governors-1992-1998; Outstanding Service Award- School of Hospitality and Tourism; Distinguished Alumnus Award, USC School of Business-2001
Honors
Entrepreneur of Year, Charlotte -1992; Columbia Chamber Woodrow Wilson Community Service Award-1998 for USC Arena and Regional Convention Center Project; Community Service Award-Lexington Rotary Club; Community Service Award-Chapin Sertoma Club. Rotary Club of Chapin – Citizen of The Year – 2011; Recipient of The Order of The Palmetto – 2011.
Personal and Military
Spouse: JoAnn; 2 children; BS-Business USC - 1964; Private Pilot;
Captain, USAF, 1964-1968; Food Service Officer and Officers Club Manager; Vietnam Veteran; Air Force Commendation Award.
Honor Flight of South Carolina
Chairman – Honor Flight of South Carolina is a hub of a national organization. Our mission is to honor WWll Veterans from South Carolina by providing a free one day air charter trip to Washington, DC to visit the WWll Memorial. Since November 2008, over 1,200 WWll Veterans from SC have had an opportunity to travel to DC. Flights have been organized from Columbia, Kershaw, Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Greenville/Spartanburg. This is a life changing event for our WWll veterans and an emotional and memorable day for all involved. Over $600,000 has been raised in SC in less than 2 years to honor our WWll Vets.
Honor Flight of South Carolina
Honor Flight of South Carolina is a “hub” of the Honor Flight Network and was founded by Bill Dukes and friends in July 2008. The Honor Flight Network was founded in 2004 by Earl Morse in Ohio. The first flight for WWll veterans from South Carolina was in 2007 and it was organized by the mayor of Simpsonville.
There are now four groups in South Carolina that are participating in the Honor Flight program – Columbia, Charleston, Greenville-Spartanburg and Myrtle Beach.
A charter flight takes the WWll Veterans to Washington, DC so that they can see and experience their WWll Memorial. They also enjoy a tour of DC and visits to the Korean, Vietnam and Iwo Jima memorials and monuments. The WWll Veterans are also special guest at Arlington Cemetery and they observe the Changing of The Guard at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier. WWll Veterans do not pay for the one day trip.
Guardians accompany the WWll Veterans on the flights and those wishing to be a guardian pay $500 for the honor of being a caretaker for the WWll Veterans. Medical personnel are also part of the travel group.
The goal of Honor Flight of SC is to provide an opportunity for every WWll Veteran in South Carolina who has never had a chance to visit their Memorial an opportunity to do so.
A History of Honor Flight of South Carolina
2007
Jeff Miller, a co-founder of the Honor Flight Network, helped the mayor of Simpsonville organize the first flight for WWll veterans from the Upstate.
2008
2008 was the organizational year for Honor Flight of South Carolina. The goal of Honor Flight of SC was to provide all WWll Veterans of South Carolina to have an opportunity to visit the WWll Memorial. The first flight from Columbia included WWll Veterans from all parts of the state. We received wonderful support from all media and the first flight was scheduled for November 15, 2011.
July – First meeting to discuss Honor Flight project for Columbia Region. Signed contract to charter a USAir 737.
August- WISTV and The State did several special reports; received our first major gift of $7,500 and several gifts of $2,500.
Verizon Wireless provided a free cell phone for our volunteer call center to use. They later provided a cell phone to the Myrtle Beach chapter.
September- Gilbert Middle School contacted us and indicated they wanted to raise funds for Honor Flight. Lt Gov Andre Bauer, and WWll Veteran Murray Price and I went to Gilbert Middle School to kick-off there fundraising efforts.
November- The State newspaper did 10 Profiles of WWll Veterans.
November 11- On Veterans Day, Gilbert Middle School contributed a check for $7,800. Eventually they would raise more than $8,500 to support Honor Flight. The City of Columbia invited the WWll Veterans to be special VIP guest at the Veterans Day parade.
November 15- “Inaugural Honor Flight” from Columbia; 95 WWll Veterans traveled.
2009
2009 was a busy year. The community embraced the Honor Flight project and the fundraising efforts were outstanding. We were able to take 4 flights from Columbia and an additional flight that was organized by the Kershaw community.
January- USC Hospitality class decides to raise funds for Honor Flight and they raised a total of $28,000.
March- ATO, a social fraternity at USC raised $7,500 for Honor Flight.
April 15- Second Honor Flight from Columbia.
April- USC Football Team honors WWll Veterans and families at the annual Spring Football Game.
April- USC Baseball Team honors WWll Veterans.
May 27- Third Honor Flight from Columbia.
July- Fort Jackson invites WWll Veterans to be Honored Guest at Graduation; VIP tour of Fort Jackson.
August- Honor Flight of SC helps launch the Charleston Honor Flight project .We also help launch a project for Kershaw, SC.
September 5- Fourth Honor Flight from Columbia.
October- SC Joint National Guard selects Honor Flight to be recipient of a portion of proceeds from sale of concessions during air and ground firepower show. WWll Veterans are special VIP guest at preview show. Total awarded to Honor Flight is $25,000; Agreed to collaborate with Celebrate Freedom Foundation for their 2010 Spring Event which will honor Vietnam Era Veterans. Vietnam veterans will be invited to join the April 2010 Honor Flight as Guardians.
November 7- Fifth Honor Flight from Columbia and first flight from Charleston; There were 300 persons from SC at the WWll Memorial at 10:30am on this day including 182 WWll Veterans.
November 21- Kershaw Honor Flight supported by Honor Flight of SC.
2010
Another successful year for the Honor Flight programs in South Carolina. Each hub has geographical responsibilities. This now enables each hub to better serve the veterans in their communities. The first 2010 flight from South Carolina was April 20 from the Upstate and it was followed by flights from Columbia on April 21 and September 1 and two flights from Charleston during April and October. Myrtle Beach had their “Inaugural” flight on November 10, 2010. Over 1300 WWll Veterans have been able to see their memorial since 2008.
2011
This year began with a WWll Tribute show in Columbia at the Township Auditorium. Jerry Neely was the chair of this event. The Gillespie Group helped organize the event. Over 2,500 WWll Veterans, family members and friends attended a concert featuring the Glen Miller Orchestra, The Liberty Belles and our special Bob Hope impersonator – Mr. Bill Johnson. The first flight of 2011 will be on April 27 and will depart from Columbia. Charleston and Myrtle Beach will also have flights during May. The Upstate is planning a flight in the fall and Columbia has announced a flight for November 9, 2011.
Contact Bill Dukes for more information – www.honorflightsc.com