Relief and Joy as Volunteers Help Freed Jan. 6 Prisoners Get Home
Citizen groups sprang into action after Trump issued the pardons and commutations he had promised. Operation Airlift was launched. The volunteers then set their plans in motion. Heavin and a second Texas pilot, Joe Heartsill, spent 2 1/2 days executing Operation Airlift. From Jan. 21 to Jan. 23, they flew about 20 of the newly released home; Heavin and his wife, Diane, say their plane traversed 8,000 miles.
The volunteers ensured that the ex-prisoners “were warm and fed, with a hotel to go to, and a phone to reconnect to their families,” he said. Volunteers also provided transportation, including commercial airline tickets or flights via private jets, including one that Heavin owns.