Earl Warren is the first subscriber to the Mercy Flights membership program. He recalls working at West Coast Airlines as a radio operator in 1949. “My office was at the foot of the old civilian control tower,” Earl said. “Whenever I had 20 minutes, I’d go up into the tower to chat.”

That’s where he became friends with Mercy Flights founder George Milligan, a Medford air traffic controller. “A young man was lost to polio,” Earl remembers. “An ambulance was transporting him up to Portland to put him in the iron lung, but he didn’t make it.”

Before the polio vaccine was developed in 1955, this was the only option for victims who had their respiratory system paralyzed by the disease. The iron lung was like a big airtight tank with bellows that would squeeze the chest to expand and contract the rib cage. In the 1940s, the closest iron lung was in Portland.

“George decided to buy a surplus military plane and turn it into an air ambulance,” Earl said. “He told me about it and said he would charge $2 for a family membership. I put $2 on the counter and told him to sign me up.” Through fundraising efforts by schoolchildren, scouts, and other community members, George Milligan raised enough money to purchase the first Mercy Flights airplane, a twin engine Cessna known as the Bamboo Bomber. Earl flew in the right seat with George helping to transport people for a few years.

A membership program was established in 1949 to provide people an opportunity to contribute to Mercy Flights, while insuring they would be covered in the event they needed air transportation. “My membership card has a #2 on it,” Earl says. “Ron Gandee got the number one because he did some free printing for George to help get the program started.”

When Earl Warren had a heart attack 25 years ago, he used his Mercy Flights membership. He used it again three years ago when he fell and hit his head. “It’s a wonderful organization,” Earl said. “I’m glad to be a part of it.”