First ‘Honor Flight’ of the year takes off Wednesday

81 veterans and 81 guardians are scheduled to make the first Honor Flight of the year to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

They will lift off from the Springfield National Airport at 4:30 A.M. and return later in the evening.

Of the veterans on the flight, five served in Korea and 76 served in Vietnam. Fifteen of the veterans live in Arkansas; the remaining 71 are from Missouri.

On their way to board the chartered 737 the veterans will pass an honor guard from the Willard N-Jr ROTC.

The Honor Flight will land at Dulles International instead of Reagan National airport. This change will allow the return flight to depart Washington on time.

Flight Coordinator David Snider expects the plane to arrive back in Springfield between 7:15 and 7:30 P.M. Wednesday evening.

People who want to attend Welcome Home should be at the Springfield airport no later than 7:00 P.M.

In Washington the plane will remain on the tarmac and the veterans, guardians, and support staff will ride “people movers” to get from the aircraft to the motor coaches for their tour of the military memorials.

Lunch will be served to the group at the Lincoln Memorial. Police escorts will travel with the motor coaches both to downtown Washington and back to the airport at the conclusion of the tour.

There will be two more Honor Flights this year, one in August and one in October. Any veteran who lives in southwest Missouri or northwest Arkansas who received an honorable discharge from the military and served between 1940 and 1975 is eligible to go on an Honor Flight at no cost.

They did not have to serve overseas. Guardians who accompany the veterans take the trip for $600.

Veteran, Guardian and Volunteer applications are available at honorflightoftheozarks.org