Great River Honor Flight

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& Guardian

Applications

Download Veteran Applications HERE

Download Guardian Applications HERE

Download Veteran Applications HERE

Download Guardian Applications HERE

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Great River Honor Flight

68 Missions

2,195 Local Veterans

430 - WWII 577 - Korea 1,123 - Vietnam 65 - Armed Forces

To be part of a future Honor Flight

www.greatriverhonorflight.com

Great River Honor Flight Celebrates 15 Years of

Honoring Veterans

2024 marks the 15th year of operation for Great River Honor Flight. Since Veterans Day 2009, the local Honor Flight hub has been offering FREE trips to Washington, DC for local veterans. “From the very first trip on April 13, 2010 to the latest one on October 19, 2023, our mission has remain constant - Celebrating America’s Veterans by inviting them to share a day of Honor at our Nation’s Memorials,” said Carlos Fernandez, Chairman of the Great River Honor Flight Board.

“None of this would have been possible without the ongoing financial support over the years from the more than 13,000 donors made up of individuals, groups, businesses and the veterans themselves,” added Doug Reed, Treasurer. “Thanks to their commitment, the Honor Flight program locally remains strong and ready to honor our local veterans with these one-day trips that create life-long memories.”

There are many stories from the past 14 years, but the proof of the program’s success lies in the numbers it has accomplished. Among them:

68 Missions

2,195 Veterans Honored

430 WWII – 575 Korea – 1,123 Vietnam – 65 Armed Forces Veterans

(Including Guardians that number grows to 3,898)

Veterans from 69 counties in Illinois (31), Missouri (31) and Iowa (7)

120,904 air miles traveled (more than 5 times around the world)

544 Memorials visited

140 buses chartered

11,694 meals served

Over 30,000 bottles of water consumed

More than 15,000 letters handed out during mail calls

The top 10 Tri State counties that veterans came from include Adams (699), Marion (284), Pike, Illinois (177), Hancock (174), McDonough (136), Ralls, Missouri (105), Lee, Iowa (95), Lewis, Missouri (77), Clark, Missouri (70) and Pike, Missouri (65). In addition, friends of local veterans from 12 states also were part of the total number. Thousands of pictures from the 68 missions were also compiled into DVDs commemorating this special day which each veteran and guardian received.

“And our mission is far from over,” stated Sharon Lake, Vice-Chair. “Our number one goal is to ensure that all local veterans are aware of this opportunity and sign up for a future flight.” Veterans that have served prior to July 1, 1985 are encouraged to go to www.greatriverhonorflight.com and fill out an application. It is the first step to ensure that they will be added to the list for upcoming trips.

2024 will feature 6 missions. Preparations for those trips are currently being made and dates will soon be announced.

For additional information, contact Carlos Fernandez at csfernandez1951@gmail.com or

Great River Honor Flight

PO Box 3723

Quincy, Illinois 62305

VETERANS	ILLINOIS
Missions	#1 - #20	#21-#40	#41-#60	#61-#68	TOTALS	Ranking
Adams	222	216	186	75	699	#1
Brown	11	9	5	2	27
Calhoun	0	2	6	0	8
Clay	0	1	0	0	1
Clinton	0	0	1	0	1
Cook	0	1	1	0	2
Fulton	0	2	2	0	4
Greene	1	0	0	0	1
Hancock	49	77	36	12	174	#4
Henderson	2	1	1	0	4
Jackson	1	1	0	0	2
Kane	0	1	0	0	1
LaSalle	0	1	0	0	1
Madison	0	0	2	2	4
Mason	1	0	0	0	1
McDonough	54	38	37	7	136	#5
McHenry	0	0	1	0	1
Morgan	0	1	1	0	2
Peoria	0	0	1	0	1
Perry	0	1	0	0	1
Pike	48	52	66	11	177	#3
Randolph	0	1	0	0	1
Rock Island	0	3	0	0	3
Sangamon	1	2	0	0	3
Schuyler	7	8	4	0	19
Scott	2	0	1	0	3
St. Clair	0	1	2	2	5
Tazwell	1	1	1	0	3

Warren	1	1	2	0	4
Will	0	1	1	0	2
Winnebago	1	0	0	0	1

TOTAL	402	422	357	111	1292

VETERANS	MISSOURI
Missions	#1 - #20	#21-#40	#41-#60	#61-#68	TOTALS
Adair	1	2	6	0	9
Achison	0	1	0	0	1
Audrain	1	1	5	1	8
Benton	1	0	0	0	1
Boone	0	0	1	0	1
Camden	1	1	0	0	2	#9
Clark	16	24	23	7	70	#9
Clay	0	1	0	0	1
Clinton	0	1	0	0	1
Franklin	0	1	0	0	1
Jackson.	0	1	0	0	1
Jefferson	0	0	0	1	1
Knox	10	14	9	3	36
Lewis	22	34	16	5	77
Lincoln	0	5	1	0	6
Linn	1	0	2	0	3
Macon	1	2	0	1	4
Marion	78	71	96	39	284	#2
Monroe	8	3	7	5	23
Perry	0	1	1	0	2
Pike	18	23	18	6	65	#10
Ralls	11	24	33	37	105	#6
Schuyler	2	1	3	0	6
Scotland	4	8	5	0	17
Shelby	9	19	13	1	42
St. Charles	1	2	1	0	4
St. Clair	0	0	0	1	1
St. Francis	0	1	0	0	1

St. Louis	0	2	1	0	3
Washington	0	0	0	1	1
Worth	1	0	0	0	1

TOTAL	186	243	241	108	778

VETERANS	IOWA
Missions	#1 - #20	#21-#40	#41-#60	#61-#68	TOTALS
Appanoose	0	0	0	1	1
Clark	0	0	1	0	1
Des Moines	0	2	3	2	7
Henry	0	0	2	1	3
Lee	21	12	38	24	95	#7
Linn	0	1	0	0	1
VanBuren	1	1	0	0	2

TOTAL	22	14	38	24	110

VETERANS	OTHER
Missions	#1 - #20	#21-#40	#41-#60	#61-#68	TOTALS
Arkansas	0	0	1	0	1
California	1	0	0	0	1
Florida	0	1	0	0	1
Idaho	0	1	0	0	1
Indiana	0	1	0	1	2
Kansas	0	0	3	0	3
Michigan	1	0	0	0	1
Oklahoma	0	0	1	0	1
Tennessee	0	0	1	0	1
Texas	0	0	0	1	1
Virginia	0	1	0	0	1
Washington	0	0	1	0	1

TOTAL	2	4	6	2	15
Grand Total	612	683	642	245	2195

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.