Frank Fontana, OD, was accompanied by his grandson, Anthony, on the St. Louis Honor Flight to Washington D.C. in late May. The pair are in front of the Missouri section of the memorial.
Frank Fontana, OD.
At the ceremony in Washington D.C. at the WWII Memorial, Fontana was selected to receive the American Flag, which represents the over 400,000 veterans lost in the war.
ST. LOUIS and WASHINGTON D.C.—Legendary optometrist, Frank Fontana, OD, known with great fondness as “Uncle Frank” to hundreds of ODs, colleagues and friends in the vision care field, was selected to take part in the World War II “Honor Flight” roundtrip from St. Louis to Washington D.C. on May 24.

According to Frankie Fontana, his son, Dr. Fontana was among a limited number of veterans who took the trip. Rolando Lopez was the leader of the May 24 St. Louis World War II Honor Flight. The mission of the Greater St. Louis Honor Flight (GSLHF) (www.gslhonorflight.org/) is “to recognize our veterans—most urgently our World War II veterans—with a day of honor, remembrance and celebration. We do this with a one-day, all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the World War II Memorial, built to honor their service and sacrifice.”

The family and friends sent thank you notes for his service for the “Mail Call” that was part of the flight ceremony.

Details about the Honor Flights program are posted on the St. Louis’ site as are details for veteran and guardian applications. The guardian accompanying Dr. Fontana on his flight was his grandson, Anthony, said Frankie Fontana. The Greater St. Louis Honor Flight can be followed on Twitter @glshonorflight.

Dr. Fontana is a 1949 graduate of the Illinois College of Optometry. He was educated through the G.I. bill after serving in the U.S. Army for three years including 28 months of overseas duty in the European Theater of Operation. Dr. Fontana started his practice, Fontana Eyecare Associates (www.drfrankfontana.com/) practice in 1950 and specializes in and is a pioneer in fitting contact lenses.

The St. Louis program began flying veterans to Washington D.C in 2008. The organization was founded by two area women who were passionate about making sure the St. Louis community’s veterans had the chance to see their national memorials. By the end of 2015, GSLHF will have flown 55 Honor Flights, serving more than 1,400 St. Louis area veterans.

The National Honor Flight program was conceived by Earl Morse, a physician assistant and retired Air Force Captain, to honor veterans he took care of for over 27 years. Honor Flight originated in 2005 with six small planes flying 12 World War II veterans from Springfield, Ohio to Washington D.C. The next year, with an ever-expanding waiting list of veterans, commercial airline carriers were used to accommodate as many honorees as possible.

Partnering with HonorAir in Henderson, N.C., the “Honor Flight Network” (www.honorflight.org/) was formed and has expanded across the country. The non-profit organization also honors veterans from Korea, Vietnam and other more recent wars.