Cessna Aircraft Company has designated a Citation Mustang named American Patriot to fly missions for the Veterans Airlift Command (VAC) – a non-profit organization that organizes volunteer aircraft owners and pilots to provide free transportation to wounded veterans and their families. The Mustang’s first mission is being flown today [November 10], transporting two veterans from San Antonio, Texas, to a Veteran’s Day fundraising event held in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
The two veterans being transported on the American Patriot‘s inaugural mission are Bobby Henline, a former U.S Army staff sergeant who was injured in 2007 in Iraq, and Matthew Miles, who lost his leg in Afghanistan while serving as a U.S Army sergeant first class. Due to limitations in the availability of airplanes and pilots at this time, VAC transportation is only available to veterans who served in either Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Cessna adorned American Patriot with a bold paint scheme featuring United States Armed Forces emblems, an American flag and a rendering of a character Cessna calls Patriotic Defender.
