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Great River Honor Flight Announces 79th Mission
Final Flight of 2025
The Great River Honor Flight Board of Directors announced that the final of five planned flights for 2025, #79, is scheduled for Thursday, October 16th out of John Wood Community College in Quincy. A total of 31 veterans will take part on this trip. Of them, 29 served during the Vietnam era. 1 SERVED IN BOTH Vietnam and Gulf War and the remaining 1 served before or after Vietnam. They represent Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Women’s Army Corps and Army Reserves. A full listing of the veterans on this trip follows this News Release.
This will be the 79th mission overall for local veterans since the program started serving the Tri State region in 2010. Since then, 2,506 local veterans who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War and between those conflicts have previously participated in this program. The 31 veterans on this flight served in several roles among them Infantry, Security, Transportation, Intelligence, Mechanic, among others. Their itinerary will follow the schedule that has been so successful over the past 16 years. It includes a 2:15AM departure for a bus ride to Lambert Field in St. Louis where they will board their flight to Baltimore and then on to DC where they will visit the Vietnam Wall, Korea Memorial, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, Air Force Memorial, and see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery and then head to the Navy Memorial for tour and dinner. The veterans will then head to Reagan National Airport for their return flight back to St. Louis. A charter bus will bring them back to the JWCC Basketball Arena for a rousing homecoming. The expected arrival time back in Quincy will be around 10:30PM.
Great River Honor Flight was chartered on Veterans Day 2009 with its first flight scheduled on April 13, 2010. Our goal remains to honor the total number of local veterans who served our country with a FREE trip to Washington DC.
To date Great River Honor Flight, the Tri-States’ hub of the Honor Flight program has flown 2,506 local Veterans to Washington D.C. since it was established in 2009. This trip will increase that total to 2,537. Great River Honor Flight, a Missouri Nonprofit Corporation established in October of 2009, was created solely to honor America’s veterans that live in our area for all they have sacrificed by providing, free of charge, transportation to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices.
For additional information, contact Carlos Fernandez at csfernandez1951@gmail.com or
Great River Honor Flight
PO Box 3723
Quincy, Illinois 62305
THE VETERANS ATTENDING
THE 79TH MISSION:
Great River Honor Flight #79
Itinerary
OCTOBER 16, 2025
Following times are Central
012:30 am
Check-in for participants of Honor Flight – John Wood Community College Cafeteria
01:15 am
Guardian briefing
012:15pm
Bus Loading – 2:30 am Depart HLGU
04:00 am
Arrive St. Louis Airport (Southwest Terminal)
05:55 am
Southwest Airlines Flight 2502 departs STL
Our clearance through security and the boarding process will be expedited by Southwest Airlines
FOLLOWING TIMES ARE EASTERN
08:55 am
Flight arrives at BWI (Baltimore)
09:45 am
Board Bus for trip to Washington
Lunch and Video of Memorials to be played during trip
10:30 am
Arrive at Vietnam, Korea and Lincoln Memorials.
Note: Longest stop of day. Due to proximity, this stop will also allow for visits to Vietnam, Korea and Lincoln Memorials. Bus will unload close to Vietnam Memorial. Bus will load close to Korea Memorial.
GUARDIANS: Reminder that this is not a guided tour. This gives the opportunity for each veteran to decide how best to use their time. Keep total time at this stop in mind at all times so as not to rush.
12:00 pm
Depart Korean/Vietnam Memorial for WWII Memorial.
12:15 pm
Arrive at World War II Memorial (South Entrance)
Group picture to be taken.
1:00 pm
Depart WWII Memorial – Go to Air Force Memorial
1:20 pm
Air Force Memorial
1:50 pm
Depart 9/11 Memorial for Iwo Jima
2:05 pm
Iwo Jima – Drive By
2:20 pm
Depart Iwo Jima for Arlington National Cemetery
2:30 pm
Arrive at Arlington National Cemetery – Plan is to take our tour bus directly to the Amphitheatre inside Arlington. We will plan to see the Changing of the Guard at 3:00.
3:30 pm
Depart Arlington for Navy Memorial and Tour of DC
4:00 pm
Dinner at Navy Memorial
5:00 pm
Head to Reagan National Airport
5:20 pm
Arrive at Reagan National Airport.
6:55 pm
Southwest Airlines Flight 1563 departs Reagan National (DC)
FOLLOWING TIMES ARE CENTRAL
8:10 pm
Flight arrives at STL airport/ Board Bus for JWCC - Quincy.
10:45 pm
Approximate time of arrival at JWCC Basketball Arena- Upon our departure from St. Louis, we will have a better feel for what time we will be arriving for those picking vets and guardians up.
To the Staff of the Great River Honor Flight,
I am incredibly grateful to the Great River Honor Flight for allowing me to participate in Mission 70 to Washington DC. I know the planning and coordination required to execute this as well as you did was no small feat. My heart felt salute and thank you to all and I will remember this day forever.
Please let me give you a little background. I was a 19-year-old private in the Army when I arrived in Vietnam. I was a medic assigned to an infantry unit with nothing more than basic medical life saving skills. I soon discovered just how ugly war is. My hands have been soaked in the blood of my enemy and the blood of my friends. No amount of washing has ever taken the stain out. I have been scared like no person ever should be. This day brought back both emotional relief and overwhelming sadness. As I looked upon that wall I couldn’t help but think back at how many times I was given the opportunity to be among their names. I shook my head in disbelief that I was one of the fortunate ones to make it back alive. I still wonder why to this day. My mind gets stuck on how it could have turned out so different.
I confess. When entered the sports complex upon our return and all those people were there to welcome us back, I cried. I never felt so warmly appreciated for my service as I did upon our return from Mission 70. It was an emotional but a joyous day for me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
David A Knotts
Command Sergeant Major (Ret)
U.S.Army
To Celebrate America’s Veterans
by inviting them to share in a day of Honor at our Nation’s Memorials
Great River Honor Flight, a Missouri Nonprofit Corporation established in October of 2009, was created solely to honor America’s veterans that live in our area for all they have sacrificed by providing, free of charge, transportation to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices.
Great River Honor Flight first flight was scheduled on April 13, 2010. Back then all the veterans were from World War II. That is the way it continued for several years until it was decided to expand to those veterans who had served during the Korean War. Since then, we have also expanded to include veterans during the Vietnam War as well as those who served between those conflicts. Our goal is to continue to increase the total number of local veterans who have flown to Washington DC for free thanks to the financial support of so many individuals, groups and businesses in the area who remained supportive of the cause since its beginning.
