Several years ago, Bailey and six other veterans -- also pilots -- took to the skies in their own planes to help veterans living in Western Alaska. All had flown the area for fun, and saw veterans in need of help. In 2003, Bailey created a nonprofit, Veteran's Aviation Outreach, which serves "isolated veterans" in rural or remote parts of western Alaska and elsewhere.
The men mostly help people file for Veterans Administration benefits. But they've also flown out veterans in need of medical care, made sure deceased veterans got flags for their graves, and shared literally tons of moose meat scored from helpful guides.
In 2005, they filed benefit claims on behalf of six Naknek veterans. The next year, they flew a rural resident to Anchorage for emergency medical care, a visit that also resulted in diagnoses -- and later treatment -- of diabetes and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Now 69, Bailey last year received the Governor's Veterans Advocacy Award for his "outstanding volunteer service."
He talked about the flying outreach group during a recent conversation. For more information, go to www.vaoonline.org
Q. Why did you start?
A. Seeing the conditions that many veterans are in. Me and the rest of the pilots used to fly to western Alaska. We saw that people would have medical problems and some people in some cases died, leaving huge debts. Had they known they had benefits, the VA would have taken care of that. It's mostly information: these people are clueless. Once you're released from the military, you are not tracked, updated.
Q. Why western Alaska?
A. We were retired, just kind of goofing around (and flying the area). They're all combat pilots -- the rest of the guys are. I'm not. We were all in Vietnam together. All of us are retired from the military, looking at our brothers and sisters and saying, "Well, what can we do?" We didn't set out to do this, trust me. We were enjoying our retirement, our grandchildren.
Q. Can you give me some specifics of the kind of outreach you do?
A. We've been to all villages up and down the Kvichak River and Lake Iliamna. We found out veterans had been buried without flags. We decided that was totally unacceptable.
Q. Where was that?
A. It was in Newhalen on Lake Iliamna. We came back and went around to organizations such as the VFW. We got flags at the Wasilla Vet Center. We took flags out to make sure that people who had died recently, they received flags they hadn't gotten before and we left flags there so they could have them to take to six surrounding villages. That was last year.
Q. What about more recently?
A. We help veterans, no matter where. Last month, a guy was on dialysis. He had to come into Wasilla three times a week. He lived in Sutton. His house was not sanitized, broken pipes. We took a couple ladies out, cleaned the house, took a plumber out to fix pipes for water, built a handicapped ramp. Now he's able to do his dialysis at home.
Q. Where does the money come from?
A. Most of it comes out of our pockets. Sometimes people give fundraisers, spaghetti dinners, garage sales, cookie bakes or whatever. We do lots of stuff. I tell you what, I'm not just bragging, I'm really proud. We've had a heckuva impact doing things for people, little things that (otherwise) people, they got to paperwork it to death.
We just gave away 2,100 pounds of moose meat. We do it every year, have a deal with guides in Healy. They bring Lower 48'ers on hunts. They want horns. We want meat. We caravan a couple of trucks, pick up the meat and have it processed. The neediest people get it first. Valley veterans. Actually, we sent meat to the Bush -- 400 pounds last year to Naknek. Last week we also bought two freezers for needy veterans and filled both up with meat.
Q. How many veterans do you serve?
A. I just started tracking that. We see and help maybe two veterans a week. On a large scale, like the meat giveaway, it's to 50 to 60 people. Out in the Bush, we file claims for people with disabilities, illnesses. We do a little bit of everything.
Q. Where's the next trip?
A. Dillingham. Hopefully (early November). We'd like to have a gathering there. We had 600 people last spring at a Wasilla Airport gathering, with a barbecue and a band ... We had World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan vets.
What made it so amazing was that these young guys that just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan were able to communicate and talk to guys that was in World War II.
A lot of those guys won't be around here next year.
Find Zaz Hollander online at adn.com/contact/zhollander or call 352-6711.
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