PUNTA GORDA — As a U.S. helicopter pilot who lost a leg after his ship’s own rocket misfired during the Vietnam War, then-19-year-old Walt Fricke experienced what it was like to be languishing in a military hospital bed, alone while his family was stranded 700 miles away.

So when Fricke, a business executive who winters in Punta Gorda, retired some six years ago, he volunteered his piloting skills and plane to transport wounded veterans and their families to or from medical facilities or events.