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

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:

For additional information, contact Carlos Fernandez at csfernandez1951@gmail.com or Great River Honor Flight, P.O. Box 3723, Quincy, IL 62305