Las Cruces 96-year-old WWII veteran embarks on ‘dream flight’

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- At 96 years old, WWII veteran John Bloom embarked on a flight of a lifetime over his home of Las Cruces.

"It's been overwhelming," said the United States Army Air Corps veteran after landing. "I feel undeserving."

On Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., Bloom took off from the Las Cruces International Airport and saw his home from the skies. The flight was made possible by Dream Flights, a nonprofit that has served more than 4,200 veterans and seniors in long-term care communities over the course of a decade.

Bloom sat in the cockpit of a Boeing Stearman biplane, flying for about half an hour at a 1,500 foot altitude. He said he saw Organ Mountain High School, the Rio Grande and the Good Samaritan Society, where he currently lives.

When asked how he would top this event for his 97th birthday in December, Bloom said "I ignore my birthdays. What else do you want to know?"

According to the non-profit, only an estimated 100,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in WWII are still alive today.