After a former World War II sailor cried foul that veterans were being charged admission to next month’s Great State of Maine Air Show, the authority hosting the show is offering to pay for tickets for veterans who could not otherwise afford to attend.

“I would hate to deprive any veteran the opportunity to attend this amazing show if he or she cannot afford the $25 admission fee,” wrote Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Steven Levesque in a letter to The Times Record. “Accordingly, MRRA will gladly buy a ticket for any veteran who truly cannot afford the admission to attend.”

Levesque’s letter is in response to a letter to the editor written by Topsham World II veteran Conrad LeBourdais, who called for all veterans to boycott the show because he felt it was unfair to charge veterans admission.

“These guys are going to fill their pockets,” LeBourdais wrote. “It used to be free years ago. Let’s stick together — all veterans — and don’t go.”

Speaking on Monday, LeBourdais said MRRA’s offer is too little too late.

“I’m not going,” LeBourdais, 89, said. “I told (Levesque), ‘You know what you can do with the ticket.’”

LeBourdais said that the air show has become too expensive for “common people” and their families to attend.

LeBourdais, who served in the Pacific theater during the war, said he is suffering from a rare form of cancer after being exposed to radiation following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

LeBourdais, who was the subject of stories in the Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News about his call for a boycott, noted in his orignal letter to The Times Record that the show “used to be free years ago.”

MRRA, which oversees the redevelopment of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, organized air shows at the former base in 2011 and 2012, following closure of the base.

According to Levesque, no admission was charged for those two events, but MRRA failed to turn a profit.

The military hosted the air shows without an admissions charge while the base was still operational, but “were anything but free to put on; as they were supported primarily by our tax dollars,” Levesque noted.

MRRA is contracting with the Air Show Network for next month’s show that takes place over Labor Day weekend on Sept. 5 and 6.

Levesque noted “substantial costs” in putting on the show, and stated that hosting the Blue Angels flight team and a special appearance by an Air Force F-22 fighter alone will cost more than $100,000.

“I am eternally grateful for Mr. LeBourdais and all the other veterans for their service to our country,” said Levesque, who is also a veteran, adding, “I do recognize that private enterprise cannot provide its services for free.”

Veterans who would like to attend the event and need help paying should call the MRRA office at (207) 798-6512.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com