Great River Honor Flight to surpass 2,100 veterans with 66th mission taking place Thursday

QUINCY — The Great River Honor Flight’s 66th mission will take place on Thursday, Aug. 17, departing from John Wood Community College.

Thirty-one veterans will participate. Of that total, 27 served during the Vietnam era and the remaining four served before or after Vietnam. The 31 veterans come from Illinois (Adams, Brown, Hancock and McDonough counties), Missouri (Marion, Clark, Knox and Lewis), and Iowa (Lee).

Since the program started serving the region in 2010, 2,098 local veterans who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and between those conflicts have participated in this program.

The departure and return on Aug. 17 will be from John Wood Community College. The veterans will tour the Vietnam Wall Memorial and nearby Korea and Lincoln Memorials. The next stop will include the World War II Memorial and a group picture taken near the Washington Monument. Other stops on the trip include the Air Force Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery (including seeing the ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier), a stop at the Iwo Jima Memorial and then dinner at the Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue. The expected arrival time back in Quincy will be around 10:30 p.m.

Great River Honor Flight, a Missouri nonprofit corporation established in October of 2009, was created to honor America’s veterans who 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, P.O. Box 3723, Quincy, Ill., 62305