Veterans receive our support for Honor Flight

Our stockholders are sponsoring 110 veterans on the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight scheduled to depart for Washington, D.C., on April 28. Through the Wisconsin Energy Foundation, we have been a partner of the Honor Flight program since its inception.

In addition to the April flight, we are sponsoring the Field of Honor event to honor veterans and their families at Miller Park on Aug. 11. The public is invited to attend The Field of Honor: A Salute to the Greatest Generation. Tickets are $11 (plus a service charge) and may be purchased through the Milwaukee Brewers ticket office. All proceeds go to Stars and Stripes Honor Flight program to fund future flights.

Event highlights include:

• Pillars of Honor. This display is the architect’s model that was crafted for the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C. The model is headed to the Smithsonian after it visits Milwaukee. 

• Honor Flight documentary. The premiere of a documentary about the Stars and Stripes Honor Flights will be shown on the stadium video scoreboard. 

We had several connections to the war effort in the 1940s. Men who were called up for service traveled to downtown Milwaukee via our interurban trains and busses on their way to Fort Sheridan (U.S. Army) or the Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois. Our Public Service Building Auditorium served as a site for new inductee orientation and a venue for USO dances. More than 1,000 of our employees were called into active duty in World War II; 16 died in service to their country. Advertisements on our trollies urged citizens to buy War Bonds.

Wisconsin Energy Corporation chairman, president and chief executive Gale Klappa discussed our participation in the honor flights and The Field of Honor event during WTMJ radio’s Charlie Sykes show.

Go to audio of Charlie Sykes show
With permission of WTMJ radio

“Through this event, we hope people take away that our country owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to our veterans for their service. These are people who didn’t feel like they were heroes. They provided an incredible service for our country. They served because they felt it was the right thing to do.”

Since 1982, the Wisconsin Energy Foundation has contributed financial support for the activities of nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations in communities that are served by Wisconsin Energy and its subsidiaries. The foundation is funded by Wisconsin Energy stockholders.

Stars and Stripes Honor Flight website