Honor Flight Northeast Indiana (HFNEI) will make its 16th flight to Washington D.C. on Wednesday, May 20th and with it comes several highlights.
The group¹s inaugural trip was held in May 2009. Flight #16 celebrates the 1,000th WWII Veteran making the trip to Washington compliments of Honor Flight Northeast Indiana. Of the 70 Veterans on this flight, 34 of them are over the age of 90 and 68 are WWII Veterans. This number includes two women; one who has the honor of being the oldest Veteran to have gone on a Northeast Indiana Honor Flight. She served in the nurse corps in England and will turn 102 years old on June 14th. Four of the Veterans fought in both WW-II and Korea. Another Veteran will celebrate his 91st birthday the day of the flight.
Mayor Henry will commemorate the event by reading a proclamation at the breakfast send-off at the 122nd Air National Guard Fighter Wing. Family members will be seeing off the veterans and guardians on the flight-line as they begin boarding the chartered aircraft at 7:00 a.m. Take-off is projected to be at 8:30 a.m. A celebration awaits the group at the Reagan Airport as this flight also happens to be the 400th US Airways Charter flight for Honor Flight National.
The community is encouraged to patriotically welcome the return of the veterans in the Main Terminal of the Fort Wayne International Airport the evening of May 20th. Return time is tentative, but expected to be at approximately 9:00 p.m. A live band and the Patriot Guard Flag Corp are planning to line the airport terminal to welcome our Veteran¹s home in style. The group¹s movements can be followed throughout the day on their Facebook page at HFNEI.
Ninety-five percent of all donations go directly towards the veterans¹ trips. Honor Flight NE Indiana, Inc. is a volunteer, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. It is Honor Flight Northeast Indiana¹s mission to act quickly to serve those who would still like to have the opportunity to see this memorial that was built in their honor before it is too late.
