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Honor Flight Rochester Welcomes Home First Mission of 2017
Mission 52 departs Saturday April 8 and returns Sunday April 9 with 45 veterans
On Sunday, April 9, Honor Flight Rochester (HFR) will welcome home 45 veterans as part of Mission 52. This will be HFR’s first mission of 2017.
Among the ranks of the 45 veterans on the Mission 52 roster are two who served in more than one era:
- 28 Korean War
- 14 World War II
- 2 Korean War/ Cold War / Vietnam
- 1 Vietnam War
These veterans served in the U.S. Army (21), the U.S. Navy (15), the U.S. Army Air Corps (5), Army/Navy (1), the U.S. Air Force (2), and the U.S. Marines (1).
The two-day HFR trip to Washington D.C. to visit the nation’s memorials is free to all honored veterans. Flights are possible through community gifts and contributions. Veterans are encouraged to register for their honor flight at honorflightrochester.org. Paper applications are also available.
DEPARTURE: Saturday, April 8, 2017. The veterans and their guardians arrive at Rochester International Airport at 4 a.m. Honor Flight Rochester Mission 52 departs at 6:10 a.m on Southwest Airlines Flight 2655.
RETURN DATE: Sunday, April 9, 2017
RETURN FLIGHT: Southwest Airlines Flight #6277
SCHEDULE FLIGHT ARRIVAL TIME: 12:10 p.m.
PUBLIC WELCOME CELEBRATION: Approximately 12:40 p.m. after all veterans disembark the plane
WHERE: Greater Rochester International Airport
EMCEE: Don Alhart, 13WHAM TV News Anchor
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: New York State Senator Joseph Robach
COLOR GUARD: Navy Reserve
MUSIC: C.A. Palmer Fife and Drum Corps
HONOR GUARD: Patriot Guard Riders (pgrny.org).
Honor Flight Rochester (www.honorflightrochester.org) – one of 135 established hubs in 42 states the national Honor Flight Network – is a not-for-profit, fully-volunteer organization with a goal of taking every World War II, Korean War, or Vietnam War veteran from the Greater Rochester area who otherwise would or could not go, to visit and reflect together at Washington D.C. Memorials built in their honor. The two-day HFR trip is free to all World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and veterans who served during the years 1947 – 1964 (“Cold War”). It’s also open to veterans of any era who suffer a catastrophic illness. Rochester’s flying season is April to October. To date, 2,434 veterans have now flown from the Greater Rochester area since the local organization began full-scale flights in early 2009.
