Pictured: – Several members of the American Legion, Post #43, Color Guard that will participate in the April 24th Honor Flight. Shown are Jim Howerton, Bruce Reidenbach, Dave Scheumann and Carl Stevens. Ted Buuck was unavailable for the photo.
Every year, the volunteers of Honor Flight Northeast Indiana plan, prepare and execute flights for United States military veterans. Each flight is planned for approximately 85 veterans and their guardians to travel to Washington D.C. for a tour of the memorials that were built to honor their valiant service to our country. The flights are always on Wednesdays and as a result, there are very few if any other Honor Flight hubs there when they are, minimizing congestion and maximizing their ability to enjoy the memorials.
In 2024, the Honor Flights scheduled are on April 24th, May 15th, September 18th, and October 16th. The Honor Flight scheduled for October 16th will be sponsored by a collective grant from the northeast Indiana Community Foundations.
Each flight is followed by a welcome home ceremony at the airport that night.
As reported on the Honor Flight website a brief summary of a single flight includes:
Veterans arrive at the 122nd Air National Guard base in Fort Wayne before the roosters start crowing.
- They board an American Airlines Airbus A321 for a one-hour flight into Ronald Reagan National Airport (Washington DC).
- Four motor coaches are waiting for them upon arrival to whisk them away into Washington.
- A number of memorials are toured, including the WWII Memorial, Korean, Vietnam, Lincoln Memorials and FDR Memorial.
- We continue with a driving tour of Washington D.C. including the Iwo Jima Memorial.
- We stop at the Women’s Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and the Air Force Memorial.
- We return to Ronald Reagan National for our 1-hour flight home to a welcoming celebration.
This is a full day of tours, smiles, reminiscing, and camaraderie.
