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Honor Flight Rochester First Fall Mission Returns Sunday
Veterans from WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Cold War on Mission 49 Honor Flight Rochester (HFR) returns to the skies this weekend resuming Honor Flight trips to Washington, D.C. with veterans from the Greater Rochester area.
There are 54 veterans flying on Mission 49. Included among the men are 21 World War II veterans and 23 Korean War (1950-53) veterans and seven veterans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the years of 1947 to 1964 (sometimes called the “Cold War”). There is one veteran who served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars; and two who served in the Korean War and during the “Cold War” era.
The veterans served in the U.S. Army (23), the U.S. Navy (14), the U.S. Marine Corps (6), U.S. Army Air Corps (1) and U.S. Air Force (9). One veteran served in both the Army and then the Air Force while another served in the Navy and then the Air Force.
The two-day HFR trip to Washington D.C. to visit the nation’s memorials is free to all men and women veterans. Flights are possible through community gifts and contributions. Veterans can register for their honor flight at www.honorflightrochester.com. Paper applications are also available.
This is the first fall mission of 2016. Two more are planned for October, including the milestone Mission 50, scheduled for October 1-2. The last mission of the 2016 fall flying season is Mission 51, October 22-23.
DEPARTURE DATE: Saturday, September 10, 2016. Arrive at Rochester Airport no later than 4 am.
RETURN DATE: Return Home Sunday, September 11, 2016
PUBLIC WELCOME CELEBRATION: Approximately 11:45 a.m.
FLIGHT: Southwest Airlines Flight #324
SCHEDULE FLIGHT ARRIVAL TIME: 11:20 a.m. (Sunday, September 11).
WHERE: Greater Rochester International Airport.
EMCEE: Maureen McGuire,WROC-TV 8 anchor.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Captain Zachary Callahan.
COLOR GUARD: Navy Reserve.
MUSIC: Gates Keystone Pipe and Drum
HONOR GUARD: Patriot Guard Riders (pgrny.org).
DEPARTURE: Saturday, Sept., 10, 2016 – Honor Flight Rochester Mission 49 departs the Greater Rochester International Airport at 6:00 a.m. The veterans and their guardians begin arriving at 4 a.m.
Captain Zachary Callahan
Captain Zachary Callahan has been an active volunteer with the Rochester Honor Flight program for the past 3 years. Mission 49 is his fourth trip down to Washington, D.C. He is a Rochester, a graduate of St. John Fisher’s College nursing program and is employed as an emergency/trauma nurse. He is a captain in the 914th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, 914th Airlift Wing, U.S. Air Force Reserves, located at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base. He, along with 16 of his fellow airmen just returned home after an eight month deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
