Fly Together. Heal Together.
Honoring veterans, healing families, and carrying legacies skyward through the power of aviation.
About the Foundation
At the Veterans Aviation Legacy Foundation, we believe in the transformative power of flight. As a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we are dedicated to helping veterans and their families find healing, connection, and hope through aviation.
Founded by Frank Garcia, a U.S. Army aviation mechanic and licensed pilot, the foundation was created to honor his father, a Vietnam veteran who dreamed of flying again. Frank’s personal story fuels our mission: to ensure that no veteran or family misses the chance to experience the freedom, peace, and sense of purpose that flight can bring.
Learn More About Who We Are
Our mission is simple yet powerful:
Our mission is to help our legacy vets and veterans coping with PTSD find healing, resilience, and community, while also educating families and friends through the power of aviation and its legacy, giving them opportunities to connect, learn, and share in the healing journey.
Every flight honors a story, a sacrifice, and a legacy.
Why Aviation for Veterans?
For many service members, aviation is more than a career or a mode of transportation, it’s freedom, clarity, and release from the weight of invisible wounds. Veterans coping with PTSD often struggle with reintegration, but flight offers a sense of peace and possibility.
Through hands-on restoration projects, veterans rebuild aircraft while rebuilding confidence. Through family flights, loved ones share the skies and strengthen bonds. And through our education programs, families gain insight into PTSD and learn how to walk alongside veterans in their journey.
Flying isn’t just symbolic, it’s therapeutic. Each takeoff creates space for healing, hope, and connection.
Our Future Programs
We are building opportunities for veterans and families to engage in aviation in ways that are both meaningful and restorative. With your support, these programs will soon take flight:
Veteran
Flight Experiences
We plan to offer personal flights designed to reconnect veterans with the freedom of the skies.
Shared
Flight
Journeys
Our goal is to create shared aviation experiences that help families bond and understand each other on a deeper level.
Aircraft Restoration Project
Once aircraft are acquired, veterans will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on restoration, creating purpose, teamwork, and pride.
Education for Families & Friends
We envision workshops and resources that equip loved ones with knowledge and tools to support veterans living with PTSD.
Each of these future programs represents one purpose: building healing, resilience, and community for those who have served our nation.
The Impact of Your Support:
With your help, the Veterans Aviation Legacy Foundation is preparing to launch programs that honor service, restore purpose, and inspire healing through the freedom of flight.
Your support helps us move closer to:
Acquiring aircraft like the UH-1 “Huey,” AH-1 Cobra, and Bell JetRanger aircraft with deep historical ties to veterans.
Providing sustainable flight experiences by funding aircraft maintenance, fuel, and insurance.
Expanding education programs for families and friends to strengthen entire support systems.
Every contribution fuels more flights, more workshops, and more opportunities for veterans to heal and thrive.
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Our objective is to raise funds to purchase aviation assets and build educational programs that make this project possible.
Specifically, we aim to:
Acquire a working helicopter to immediately begin veteran flight programs.
Purchase aircraft in need of repair and restoration, which veterans can help bring to flight readiness.
Develop family and friends education workshops to teach coping strategies and provide community support.
Sustain ongoing operations including aircraft maintenance, fuel, insurance, and program costs.
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While we welcome opportunities to acquire any suitable aviation aircraft that can be used for safe flight experiences and restoration projects, our ideal goal is to obtain aircraft such as:
UH-1B “Huey”
AH-1 Cobra
UH-60A Black Hawk
O-2A Skymaster
C-12 Huron
Bell (e.g., Bell 206 JetRanger)
These aircraft not only hold historical and operational significance for veterans, but also serve as powerful tools for healing, education, and legacy-building within our programs.
The Veterans Aviation Legacy Foundation is raising funds to acquire and restore aircraft that will help veterans and their families heal through the power of flight. Our goal is to create flight experiences, restoration projects, and educational programs that build connection, confidence, and community. Join us in honoring veterans by helping these programs take flight.
Donate
“Fly Together. Heal Together.”
— Tonya Garcia
Support & Impact
Healing through aviation is only possible with your support. Every dollar, partnership, and purchase helps us give veterans and their families the gift of flight, healing, and connection.
Ways You Can Help
Donate: Your contribution brings us closer to giving a veteran their next flight.
Sponsor a Flight: Provide a direct, life-changing aviation experience for a veteran or their family.
Shop With Purpose: Purchase products that fund our programs while showing your support.
Partner With Us: Community and corporate partnerships expand our mission and impact.
Why Your Support Matters
There are many ways to honor veterans, but aviation is uniquely powerful. At the Veterans Aviation Legacy Foundation, your support fuels:
• Therapy Through Adventure: Flight is uplifting, both physically and emotionally.
• Connection Through Education: Families gain tools to better understand and support loved ones with PTSD.
• Legacy Through Action: Aircraft restoration projects allow veterans to create something meaningful for future generations.
By standing with Veterans Aviation Legacy Foundation, you’re not only giving a veteran the chance to fly, you’re giving them hope, resilience, and community.
Join Us in the Sky
Every veteran has a story. Every family carries a legacy. Together, we can honor those stories and ensure no one walks this path alone.