Miles for Navy, a nonprofit that pays for flights house for active-duty junior enlisted army personnel in return for them volunteering at charities, formally launched this month and flew some 45 enlisted personnel to hometowns throughout the nation for the vacations.
It began with a marine telling his mother about his buddies who couldn’t afford to fly house after they acquired depart.
After listening to that from her son Ronan, Braintree resident Maureen Byrne sprang into motion.
“Realizing how expensive it was to fly my own son home, and hearing that many enlisted men and women had not seen their families for two years or longer, I knew I needed to do something to help them get home for the holidays and other moments that matter,” mentioned Byrne, a Dorchester native.
Two marines, Personal First Class Antonio Marcucci of Fall River and Corporal Nico Serret of Winchester, had been among the many first servicemembers flown house by Miles for Navy, arriving at Logan earlier this month.
Each had earned their ticket house by volunteering at charities close to their Camp Lejeune base.
Since then, the nonprofit has flown greater than 40 different marines, troopers, and sailors house to Texas, Florida, Utah, California, Arizona, Illinois, New York, Montana, and different states.
Miles for Navy is presently searching for to develop its donor base via company partnerships and personal donations to develop this system and convey tons of of enlisted personnel house for holidays or different essential occasions in 2025.
“This is what a ‘whole of nation’ approach looks like,” mentioned Miles for Navy board member Ramon “CZ” Lopez, a retired Particular Forces airman who rose to the rank of Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers, the best enlisted rank within the US army. “They defend our freedoms, and we find ways to support them.”
