Honor Flight of the Quad Cities announced this week that its next flight to honor veterans will be Tuesday, Oct. 29.
The 61st flight will be to Washington, D.C., to see the war memorials built in the veterans’ honor. The flight is the “West Carroll Fourth Grade Bike-a-thon flight for Lee and Whiteside counties.”
Students from the fourth grade in the West Carroll Primary School in Savanna, Illinois, under the direction of Kris Yingling have been holding a bike-a-thon for 11 years to raise money for the honor flight. Each year, between 60 and 90 children walk or ride a course in Helle Park to raise money.
Go here to find an application form to join the flight.
“Fourth grade teachers invite area veterans to come in and talk a month before they bike to tell their military stories. This helps students understand all that has been sacrificed to help our country be the best it can be,” said teacher Ms. Yingling.
This flight will consist of veterans and their guardians from Lee, Whiteside and other nearby counties in Illinois. They will be bused to the Quad Cities International Airport for their trip to see the monuments erected in their honor.
The veterans will be accompanied by over 70 trained volunteer “guardians” who will assist the veterans throughout the day, and perhaps hear a good story or two. A member of the Honor Flight Board and an Air Force veteran will be the commander of flight No. 61.
In Washington, D.C., the three charter buses will have trained bus captains to assist the veterans and guardians.
Airport greeters welcome
At the end of the day on Oct. 29, at about 10 p.m., the veterans will return to the airport in Moline. The public is invited to come to the airport and give the veterans a warm reception and welcome home. Parking at the airport will be free for the event.
Any person with a year of honorable, non-training, active duty before 1976 is urged to fill out an application for an Honor Flight and send it (along with a DD214) to Honor Flight c/o Ridgecrest Village 4130 Northwest Blvd., Davenport, IA 52806.
Those interested in going on a flight as a guardian to assist veterans (some may be in a wheelchair) may fill out a special “guardian application” as well. All applications are available at our website at www.honorflightqc.org. You can also find them at [email protected].
