Flight schedule for 15th year of Honor Flights starts April 11 with Mission No. 69 out of Quincy

March 23, 2024 | By Muddy River News

| Photo courtesy of Carlos Fernandez

QUINCY — The Great River Honor Flight board of directors recently announced the initial mission of 2024 will take place on Thursday, April 11, leaving from John Wood Community College. Thirty-two veterans will take part in this trip, with 29 serving during the Vietnam era and the remaining three serving before or after Vietnam. They represent Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

This will be the 69th mission for local veterans since the program started in 2010, with 2,195 local veterans who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and between those conflicts previously participating. The 32 veterans come from Illinois (Adams, Monroe, Henry, Brown and Madison counties), Missouri (Marion, Lewis and Adair counties), plus Iowa (Lee). The group includes five veterans whose assigned guardian is either their son or daughter.

The departure and return on April 11 will be from the campus of John Wood Community College. The trip 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 on to Washington, D.C., 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 Unknowns 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 JWCC basketball arena for a rousing homecoming. The expected arrival time back in Quincy will be around 10:30 p.m.

The missions planned for 2024 are:

No. 70 – Thursday, May 30 – out of Hannibal-LaGrange University
No. 71 – Thursday, June 27 – out of John Wood Community College
No. 72 – Thursday, August 15 – out of Hannibal-LaGrange University
No. 73 – Thursday, September 12 – out of John Wood Community College
No. 74 – Thursday, October 10 – out of Hannibal-LaGrange University

Veterans participating in the 69th mission on April 11 are:

Viet	Altheide	Richard	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Barnes	Robert W	Keokuk	Lee	IA	A
AFV	Barnes	Robert E	Kewanee	Henry	IL	N
Viet	Bartz	John N	Ewing	Lewis	MO	AF
Viet	Bier	Michael J	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Blum	Kenneth J	Loraine	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Carriger	Howard W	Hannibal	Marion	MO	N
Viet	Cooley	Alvin D	Versailles	Brown	IL	M
AFV	Devlin	Leon G	Kirksville	Adair	MO	AF
AFV	Devlin	Steven	Columbia	Boone	MO	A
Viet	Grubb	Dan	Granite City	Madison	IL	A
Viet	Hamann	Ricky	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Hamann	Ronald	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Helms	James E	Edwardsville	Madison	IL	N
Viet	Hickey	Gerald	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Keller	George M	Hannibal	Marion	MO	A
Viet	Kleyer	Maurice JJ	Waterloo	Monroe	IL	N
Viet	Lilly	Darrell E	Hannibal	Marion	MO	A
Viet	Lord	Joseph R	Plainville	Adams	IL	M
Viet	Lynk	Jimmy K	Fort Madison	Lee	IA	A
Viet	Mason	Alfred L	Quincy	Adams	IL	M
Viet	Mast	Philip R.	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Moneymaker	Dwaine A	Granite City	Madison	IL	M
Viet	Muegge	Floyd Lee	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Murdock	Lance R	Hannibal	Marion	MO	N
Viet	Rost	James D	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
AFV	Rost	Todd	Quincy	Adams	IL	M
Viet	Rupert	James L	Quincy	Adams	IL	A
Viet	Silver	Richard H.	Hannibal	Marion	MO	AF
Viet	Volk	Daniel	Mt. Sterling	Brown	IL	A
Viet	Yeater	Terry L	Hannibal	Marion	MO	M
Viet	Zimmerman	David W.	Quincy	Adams	IL	A