The Great River Honor Flight Board of Directors are announcing the next 2023 mission to Washington, DC will be on, June 15, 2023.  This is the third of 6 trips planned for this year and will be the first time that the departure and homecoming will be hosted by Mark Twain High School in Center, Missouri.  26 of the veterans on this trip are from Ralls County and the rest are also from Missouri.

This will be the 65^th mission overall for local veterans since the program started serving the Tri State region in 2010.  Since then, 2,065 local veterans who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and between those conflicts have previously participated in this program.  Approximately 33 veterans from Missouri (Ralls, Marion, Monroe and Audrain) will be part of this mission.  The group includes 25 Vietnam veterans, 1 Korea veteran and 7 Armed Forces Veteran who served between those conflicts.  They will be accompanied by 23 guardians whose sole responsibility is making sure the veterans’ needs during the trip are addressed.

The departure and return on June 15^th will be from Mark Twain High School in Center, Missouri..  The trip will follow the itinerary that has been so successful over the past 13 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.  The first stop will be at the Vietnam Wall Memorial.  This stop will also include visits to the nearby Korea and Lincoln Memorials. Next on their itinerary is a stop at the World War II Memorial, which sits next to the Washington Monument and where a group picture will be taken.  Next will be a stop at the Iwo Jima Memorial, Air Force Memorial and then an emotional visit to Arlington National Cemetery including seeing the ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  The DC trip will conclude with dinner at the Navy Memorial located on Pennsylvania Avenue and known for its fountains which contain water from all of the world’s oceans.  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 Multi-purpose building on the Mark Twain High School campus for a rousing homecoming. The expected arrival time back in Center will be around 10:30PM.

Great River Honor Flight was started on Veterans Day 2009 with its first flight scheduled on April 13, 2010.  Back then all the veterans were from World War II.  That is the way it continued for several years until it was decided to expand to those veterans who had served during the Korean War.  Since then we have also expanded to include veterans during the Vietnam War as well as those who served thru 1985.  Our goal remains to increase the total number of local veterans who have flown to Washington DC for FREE.

To date Great River Honor Flight, the Tri-States’ hub of the Honor Flight program has flown 2,065 local Veterans to Washington D.C. since it was established in 2009. This trip will increase that total to 2,098.

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
PO Box 3723
Quincy, Illinois  62305

Great River Honor Flight #65

ITINERARY

June 15, 2023

Following times are Central

1:00 am         Check-in for participants of Honor Flight – Mark Twain High School Multi-Purpose Building

1:45 am         Guardian Briefing

2:15 am         Bus Loading

2:30 am         Depart Mark Twain High School

4:00 am         Arrive St. Louis Airport (Southwest Terminal)

5:45 am         Southwest Airlines Flight 2890 departs STL

Following times are Eastern

8:45 am         Flight arrives at BWI (Baltimore)

9:15 am         Board Bus for trip to Washington

Lunch and Video of Korea Memorial to be played during trip

10:00 am      Arrive at Vietnam, Korea and Lincoln Memorials.

Note: Longest stop of day.  Due to proximity, this stop will also allow for visits to Vietnam, Korea and Lincoln Memorials.  Bus will unload close to Vietnam Memorial.    Bus will load close to Korea Memorial.

GUARDIANS:  Reminder that this is not a guided tour.  This gives the opportunity for each veteran to decide how best to use their time.  Keep total time at this stop in mind at all times so as not to rush.

11:30 am      Depart Korean/Vietnam Memorial for WWII Memorial.

11:45 am      Arrive at World War II Memorial (South Entrance)

Group picture to be taken.

12:30 pm      Depart WWII Memorial – Go to Iwo Jima Memorial

12:45 pm      Iwo Jima

1:15 pm        Depart Iwo Jima for Air Force Memorial

1:30 pm        Air Force Memorial

2:00 pm        Depart Air Force for Arlington Cemetery – Stop by Women’s Memorial

2:30 pm        Arrive at Arlington National Cemetery – Plan is to take our tour bus directly to the Amphitheatre inside Arlington.  We will plan to see the Changing of the Guard at 3:00.

3:30 pm        Depart Arlington – Go to Navy Memorial

3:45 pm        Navy Memorial – Dinner

5:00 pm        Head for Reagan National Airport

5:30 pm        Arrive at Reagan National Airport.

6:55 pm        Southwest Airlines Flight 374 departs Reagan National (DC)

Following times are Central

8:00 pm        Flight arrives at STL airport/ Board Bus for Mark Twain High School.

10:30 pm      Approximate time of arrival at MTHS’s Multi-Purpose Building – Upon our departure from St. Louis, we will have a better feel for what time we will be arriving for those picking vets and guardians up.  Updates on www.greatriverhonorflight.com