LAKE LINDEN – Lake Linden’s Sons of American Legion Squadron raised more than $15,000 for the U.P. Honor Flight at a fundraiser in May.

Wednesday, they presented the check at American Legion Post 90 in Lake Linden.

Benefits sponsored by the Sons of American Legion, the post, and its auxiliary have raised more than $62,000 over the years, said Mark Englund, commander of the Sons of American Legion Squadron.

The U.P. Honor Flight is a hub of the nonprofit Honor Flight Network. It organizes trips to Washington D.C. where veterans who served between World War II and the end of the Vietnam War can see the memorials built in their honor.

“If you’ve ever been in Escanaba when they come back, these guys are smiling from ear to ear,” Englund said. “Their jaws have to hurt because they’re the happiest people I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

That includes veterans from Lake Linden, two of whom will be going on this year’s September flights. Several post members have also gone as guardians who accompany the veterans on the trip.

Airfare, meals, deluxe tour bus, t-shirt and other items are provided free for veterans.

Post 90 Chaplain Jim Hamlett said the flight helps veterans heal, and conveys a gratitude from the country some of them didn’t get when they first returned.

“There’s just tremendous healing and tremendous camaraderie, and love and respect for these people that have protected our country in a way that they didn’t have to, but they chose to,” he said.

That’s also the favorite part of Scott Knauf, president of U.P. Honor Flight.

“They don’t think that this is a trip of healing,” he said. “They don’t understand that beforehand, but after they’ve been on a flight, they understand … The gratitude of the country is shown to these veterans for what they did, so we can enjoy the freedoms we do today.”