Great River Honor Flight Announces

76th Mission

First All-Women Veterans Flight

The Great River Honor Flight Board of Directors proudly announces that the 76th mission will be its first All-Women Veterans Honor Flight. It will be held over two days on June 18 – 19 out of Hannibal, Missouri. A total of 37 veterans will take part on this trip. Of them, 5 served during the Vietnam era, 21 during the Gulf War, and the remaining 11 served between those conflicts. They represent Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Army National Guard.

The idea for this special mission came from multiple conversations between Maria Poindexter, Commander of the American Legion Post 55 in Hannibal and members of the Great River Honor Flight Board. “Over the past 16 years, we have been honored to offer 2,414 veterans the Honor Flight experience, but the majority of them have been males,” stated Carlos Fernandez, Chair of the Board. The mission will take place over two days – June 18th and 19th. The first day will include a pre-flight briefing along with tours of Hannibal destinations including the Mark Twain Home and Museum as well as other popular sites. This first day will conclude with a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River and a dinner at the American Legion Hall.

The second day (June 19th) will start at 1:00 am on the campus of Hannibal La Grange University before departing for Washington DC. “This is a wonderful opportunity to honor these women who stepped up and honorably served their country,” added Sharon Lake, Vice-Chair of the Great River Honor Flight Board and Flight Captain for this mission.

The 37 veterans on this flight come from Missouri (Marion, Pike, Ralls, St. Charles, Clark, Macon, Randolph, Polk, Adair, Lincoln, Jackson, Cedar, and Boone counties), Illinois (Adams, McDonough, Pike, and DeKalb counties), as well as North Carolina, Texas and California. The veterans served in a number of roles among them Communications, Security, Food Service, Radar Operator, Nursing, Cryptology Technician, Field Artillery, Satellite Repair, Radio Operator and Military Intelligence. A list of the veterans and their hometowns is included at the end of this News Release.

The June 19th trip’s itinerary will follow the itinerary that has been so successful over the past 16 years but will also feature a tour and special recognition program at the Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. 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. There they will visit the Vietnam Wall, Korea Memorial, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, Air Force Memorial, observe the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery and then dinner at the Women’s Memorial. The veterans will then head to Reagan International Airport for their return flight back to St. Louis. A charter bus will bring them back to the HLGU Basketball Arena for a rousing homecoming. The expected arrival time back in Hannibal will be around 10:00PM.

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 2,414 local Veterans to Washington D.C. since it was established in 2009. This trip will increase that total to 2,451. 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 or interview, contact Carlos Fernandez at csfernandez1951@gmail.com or

Great River Honor Flight

PO Box 3723

Quincy, Illinois 62305

THE VETERANS ATTENDING

THE 76TH MISSION: