Great River Honor Flight’s 59th mission set for Thursday

QUINCY — The Great River Honor Flight’s next mission to Washington, D.C. will be on Thursday, June 16. It will be the 59th mission since the program started serving the region in 2010, and 1,886 local veterans who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and between those conflicts have participated in this program.

Approximately 30 veterans from Illinois (Adams, McDonough, Warren, Hancock and Brown counties), Missouri (Marion, Shelby, Pike, Clark, Lewis and Ralls counties) and Iowa (Lee County) will be part of Thursday’s mission.

The departure and return on Thursday will be at John Wood Community College. The mission starts with a 2 a.m. departure for a bus ride to Lambert Field in St. Louis, where they will board their flight to Baltimore and then eventually to Washington, D.C.

The veterans will first visit the Vietnam Wall Memorial, as well as the nearby Korea and Lincoln Memorials. Next is a stop at the World War II Memorial, next to the Washington Monument. Next is a tour of Washington, D.C. a stop at the Iwo Jima Memorial and then to Arlington National Cemetery, including seeing the ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The trip concluded with dinner at the Air Force Memorial overlooking the Pentagon. The veterans will then head to Reagan International Airport for their return flight to St. Louis. A charter bus will bring them back to JWCC for a homecoming. The expected arrival time back in Quincy is around 10:30 p.m.

Great River Honor Flight, a Missouri nonprofit corporation established in October 2009, was created solely to honor America’s veterans who live in the region.

For more information, contact Carlos Fernandez at csfernandez1951@gmail.com or write to Great River Honor Flight, P.O. Box 3723, Quincy, Ill., 62305.