PIKE COUNTY — The Great River Honor Flight Board of Directors announced that the 67^th Mission will take place on Thursday, September 14^th out of Hannibal LaGrange University.

A total of 33 veterans will take part on this trip.  Of them, 4 served during the Korean Conflict, 23 served during the Vietnam era and the remaining 6 served before or after Vietnam.  Veterans represent Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.  Of particular note are the four veterans who served during Korea (over 68 years ago), 2 brothers (who served during Vietnam) and 2 cousins (one served in Vietnam and the other before it) as well as one veteran with over 35 years in the military (spanning from Vietnam to Desert Storm).

This will be the 67^th mission overall for local veterans since the program started serving the   State region in 2010.  Since then, 2,129 local veterans who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and between those conflicts have previously participated in this program.  The 33 veterans come from Illinois (Adams, Pike, Hancock and McDonough), Missouri (Marion, Ralls and Monroe), plus Iowa (Lee) will be part of this mission.

The departure and return on September 14^th will be from the campus of Hannibal LaGrange University.  The trip will follow the itinerary that has been so successful over the past 14 years.  It includes a 3:00AM 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 Unknown at Arlington National Cemetery.  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 Mabee Sports Complex ta HLGU for a rousing homecoming. The expected arrival time back in Hannibal will be around 10:15PM.

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 between WWII, Korea and Vietnam and veterans serving 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 2,129 local Veterans to Washington D.C. since it was established in 2009. This trip will increase that total to 2,162.  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

 

Conflict	Last	First	Nick	Hometown	State	Branch
Viet	Baker	Ronald R	Ron	New London	MO	A
Viet	Ballinger	George J.	Buzz	Hannibal	MO	A
AFV	Brace	Erin E.	Brace	Hannibal	MO	A
Kor	Day	Curtis	Curt	Hannibal	MO	A
Viet	Ely	Gary W.	Gary	Monroe City	MO	N
Kor	Gleckler	Robert R.	Bob	Barry	IL	A
Viet	Howser	John V.	John	Quincy	IL	A
Kor	Keith	James H.	Jim	Hannibal	MO	AF
AFV	Lake	Howard C.	Howard	Center	MO	A
Viet	Lampe	John R.	John	West Point	IA	ANG
Viet	Lieber	Jerry Fredrick	Jerry F.	Macomb	IL	N
Viet	Loughridge	Roger W.	Bill	Monroe City	MO	A
Viet	Lundberg	Daniel J.	Dan	Hull	IL	A
Viet	Kruse	David	Dave	West Point	IA	A
AFV	Martin	Terry A.	Terry	New London	MO	A
Viet	Medland	Edward J	Ed	West Point	IA	A
Kor	McTucker	Richard M.	Richard	Barry	IL	AF
AFV	Mills	Douglas Myron	Doug	Barry	IL	ANG
Viet	Pafford	Roger R.	Roger	Hannibal	MO	A
Viet	Parker	Robert W.	Bob	Hannibal	MO	A
Viet	Paschia	Ronald J.	Ronn	Hannibal	MO	A
Viet	Schmidt	Clifford	Clifford	Macon	MO	N
Viet	Schneider	Donald G.	Schneider	Fort Madison	IA	A
AFV	Schrand	Tom G	Tom	Quincy	IL	A
Viet	Smith	Elmer L.	Smitty	Hannibal	MO	N
Viet	Smith	Larry G.	L.G.	Hull	IL	A
AFV	Smith	Terry L	Tery	Kinderhook	IL	M
Viet	Sparks	Robert L.	Bob	Monroe City	MO	M
Viet	Sugars	Harlan	Harlan	Weaver	IA	A
Viet	Thompson	Clair R.	Clair	Hull	IL	A
Viet	Wright	Bailey R.	Roy	Quincy	IL	AF

AFV stands for Armed Forces Veterans and includes those who serve between WWII – Korea-Vietnam.