The Great River Honor Flight Board of Directors announced that the sixth and final mission of 2024, #74, will take place on Thursday, October 10th out of Hannibal LaGrange University in Hannibal. A total of 32 veterans will take part on this trip. Of them, 1 served in Korea, 23 served during the Vietnam era and the remaining 8 served before or after Vietnam. They represent Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Army National Guard.
This will be the 74th mission overall for local veterans since the program started serving the Tri State region in 2010. Since then, 2,347 local veterans who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and between those conflicts have previously participated in this program. The 33 veterans on this flight come from Illinois (Adams, McDonough, Hancock, Pie and St. Clair counties), Missouri (Marion, Pike, Schuyler, Adair, and Audrain counties), plus Iowa (Lee, Des Moines, Cedar and Henry counties) plus one veteran from Texas. The veterans served in a number of roles among them aircraft mechanic, platoon commander, infantry, heavy equipment operator, supply, a NATO Iron Curtain Task Force member and a husband wife team who were medics.
The departure and return on the October 10th mission will be from the campus of Hannibal LaGrange University in Hannibal, Missouri. The trip will follow the itinerary that has been so successful over the past 15 years. It includes a 2:30AM departure for a bus ride to Lambert Field in St. Louis where they will board their flight to Baltimore and then on to DC where they will visit the Vietnam Wall, Korea Memorial, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Navy Memorial and see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery and make a stop at the Women’s Memorial in Arlington for a recognition of the two women on the mission. The veterans will then head to Reagan International Airport for their return flight back to St. Louis. A charter bus will bring them back to the HLGU Basketball Arena for a rousing homecoming. The expected arrival time back in Hannibal will be around 10:15PM.
Great River Honor Flight was chartered on Veterans Day 2009 with its first flight scheduled on April 13, 2010. Our goal remains to honor the total number of local veterans who served our country with a FREE trip to Washington DC.
To date Great River Honor Flight, the Tri-States’ hub of the Honor Flight program has flown 2,347 local Veterans to Washington D.C. since it was established in 2009. This trip will increase that total to 2,379. Great River Honor Flight, a Missouri Nonprofit Corporation established in October of 2009, was created solely to honor America’s veterans that live in our area for all they have sacrificed by providing, free of charge, transportation to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices.
For additional information, contact Carlos Fernandez at csfernandez1951@gmail.com or Great River Honor Flight