6/7/22 - Honor Flights Return

A number of veterans flew out of Grand Rapids this morning to spend the day in Washington D.C.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. —(WZZM TV-13) -  About 80 veterans who served in WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War gathered at the Gerald R. Ford Airport to take part in an honor flight.

The flight is taking the veterans to Washington D.C., where they can visit war memorials and monuments built to honor them.

This is the first Mid-Michigan Honor Flight since 2019. Previous flights have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The veterans arrived at the airport around 8 a.m., and the flight took off at 8:45 a.m.

Officials say what makes this trip so special is there are 13 WWII veterans on board.

The president of the Mid-Michigan Honor Flight, Robert Green, says Michiganders can show support to our veterans by getting more involved in the program.

"If you want to support Honor Flight, then get involved, donate to honor flight or get involved in a fundraiser," said Green. "Every veteran that flies and is over 70 has to have a guardian fly with them. And we have private citizens that put in guardian applications because there are some of our veterans that don't have family members that are able to fly with them."

Green said a 95-year-old World War II veteran has outlived his family members and has been paired with a guardian to make this special trip to the nation's capital.

People are also encouraged to welcome the veterans back to the airport for their return around 8 p.m.

For more information on the honor flight, click here.