Second Honor Flight of 2026 to depart next Tuesday

VW independent staff

Flag City Honor Flight is preparing for its 35th mission on Tuesday, June 9, taking 78 veterans, primarily from the Vietnam War era to Washington, D.C. to visit memorials built in their honor.

The organization relies on community donations and flight sponsorships to continue the mission. Veterans pay nothing on an Honor Flight trip. As a 100 percent volunteer-led organization, every dollar received goes directly toward honoring and thanking veterans for their service.

The trip spans one day and begins at 5:30 a.m., when veterans and guardians arrive at Rugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport. The flight will department for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at 6:30 a.m. After arrival, those on the flight will visit the Iwo Jima Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Navy Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, and memorials for World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

The day will also include a stop at Arlington National Cemetery for the changing of the guard and wreath laying, lunch, and later dinner at the FDR/MLK Memorials. The veterans and guardians will leave Washington, D.C. at 7 p.m. and will arrive in Toledo an hour later. A welcome home celebration will be held after that before veterans department for their homes.

Flag City Honor flight serves all of northwest Ohio, as does Honor Flight Northeast Indiana, and southeast Michigan.

The final flight of 2026 by Flag City Honor Flight is scheduled for September 15. More information about Flag City Honor Flight and applications for future flights can be found online at flagcityhonorflight.org.

Honor Flight’s roots are traced back to Springfield, Ohio. In May, 2004, the WWII Memorial was finally completed and dedicated in Washington DC. This quickly became the topic of discussion among WWII veterans who were patients at a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Springfield, Ohio.

Earl Morse, a retired Air Force Captain who was a Physician Assistant at the clinic, asked the veterans if they would ever travel out to visit their memorial. Most felt that eventually, somehow, they would make it. As summer turned to fall, and then winter, these same veterans returned to the clinic for their follow-up visits. However, it became clear that for most of them, it was not financially or physically possible for them to make the journey, and most of the veterans were in their 80s and were unable to complete a trip on their own. Families and friends also lacked the resources and time.

Morse organized the first Honor Flight, which took off in May, 2005. Honor Flight has grown into a nationwide mission since then.