Honor Flight of the Quad Cities is getting ready for its 53rd flight to take off.
The flight to Washington, D.C., set for Tuesday, May 24, will be filled with more than 90 veterans who served during various conflicts. They will visit the national monuments built in their honor during the full-day event.
The veterans will be accompanied by 60 volunteer “guardians” who will assist them throughout the day.
This flight is designated as the “Hy-Vee Flight 12” in honor of the many donations and support Honor Flight has received from Quad City Area Hy-Vee stores.
The flight commander will be a veteran Honor Flight board member Debbie Geisler, Hy-Vee’s Quad Cities marketing coordinator. She has been on eight Honor Flights in the past and will be assisted by Deputy Commander Mike Haney, a longtime Honor Flight board member, and three veteran bus captains. Several guardians on the flight are Hy-Vee employees.
The flight will return home to the Quad City International Airport about 10 p.m. that night. The public is invited to be at the airport and give the veterans a warm welcome home reception. A mask is required inside the airport.
Founded locally in 2008, Honor Flight of the Quad Cities continues to accept applications for future flights. The next flights scheduled are Tuesday, Oct. 4 and Nov. 8.
Any person who was on active duty during WWII, Korea or Vietnam is invited to fill out an application for an Honor Flight. Those interested in serving as a flight guardian to assist veterans (some may be in a wheelchair) may fill out an application as well.
Applications are available at www.honorflightqc.org.
