(T.M. Shultz/The Daily Courier) Prescott pilot Chuck Fulton gives Sgt. Jason March, wounded in Iraq, and his family a pre-flight briefing Thursday just before take-off.
Volunteer Effort Gives Lift to Veterans Who Need Wings
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JUNE 24, 2009
T.M. Shultz, The Daily Courier

Sgt. Jason March never thought he'd find himself depending on the kindness of strangers.
On Aug. 27, 2006, March was leading an Army patrol flushing out snipers in and around Fallujah, Iraq.
As he stood in the gun turret of his Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a sniper's bullet ripped through the back of his head near his right ear.
His last memories that day are of blood and a friend telling him he was going to be fine.
It didn't quite work out that way.
"When I joined, I never thought about going to war," March said quietly as he stood on the tarmac Thursday in front of Legends Aviation at the Prescott Airport.
March was in Prescott switching planes as part of a journey taking him, his wife and son from a medical center in Texas to a family reunion in California.
Getting him there was the job of Veterans Airlift Command, a non-profit organization headquartered in Minnesota that supplies volunteer pilots and aircraft dedicated to flying wounded warriors to the care they need. Its slogan is, "They've got heart, they need wings."
Attending family get-togethers and having family nearby is an important part of the healing process for veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, doctors say.
On Thursday, retired Air Force Col. Chuck Fulton of Prescott was taking March on one leg of his journey.
A Gulfstream corporate jet brought March and his family from Texas to Prescott. Fulton would be taking them on an hour and 45-minute flight from Prescott to San Luis Obispo, Calif., in his single-engine, pressurized Piper jet. Fulton's co-pilot was Sam Nuber, also of Prescott and a retired service member.
Legend Aviation had waived the flight's ramp fees and given them discounted fuel, company officials said.
Once Fulton landed in San Luis Obispo, another pilot would take the March family on to Sacramento, March's hometown.
March has already endured about 24 surgeries on his face and skull. He has three more to go.
He's retiring from the Army at the end of July. It's not what he signed up for, he admits, but it's the hand he was dealt.
The free flights, he continued, are a godsend.
"It's just a great, great thing," March said, struggling to find the words. "It's a tribute to all the service members who have been wounded in battle."
The men, women and even corporations who use their own planes and their own time to fly wounded veterans around the country are heroes to the veterans, March said.
"They make it happen for us," he continued. "And it really matters to have your family around you."
Fulton said he's participated in eight "hero flights" as the Federal Aviation Administration calls them.
Because of the FAA's designation, air traffic controllers give hero flights priority handling whenever possible.
Fulton, who flew 350 combat flights during his Air Force career, joined Veterans Airlift Command three years ago. "I think this group of people...are the only true national heroes left," Fulton said.
The public can send donations to Walt Fricke, Veterans Airlift Command, 5775 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 700, St. Louis Park, MN 55416.
For more information, visit the organization's website at www.veteransairlift.org or call them at 1-952-582-2911.
This story was reprinted, courtesy of the Prescott Daily Courier. Read the Daily Courier online at www.dcourier.com.
You can email journalist T. Shultz at tshultz(at)prescottaz.com.