Great River Honor Flight Leaves Hannibal Saturday

For the fourth time this year, the Great River Honor Flight takes off this weekend on its mission to bring veterans to the nation's war memorials.

The charter bus will leave  Saturday, August 24 from Hannibal LaGrange University.  This trip will include 30 Tri-State veterans who served during the Vietnam conflict.  Twenty-six escorts will ride along to catch the flight from St. Louis.

In Washington D.C., the group will visit the Vietnam Memorial first and then head to the memorials of other wars.  The trip ends with a stop at Arlington National Cemetery where they'll see the ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier prior to returning to Reagan National for their trip home.  The direct flight will take them back to St. Louis where they will board a bus for the trip back to Hannibal.  The expected arrival time will be around 10:00 p.m. at the Mabee Sports Center at HLGU.

The Great River Honor Flight offers one-day trips to Washington, D.C. for these local heroes at no cost to them.  Nearly 1,800 veterans have taken part in 55 flights since the group started here in 2010.