Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois to host welcome home ceremony Sept. 16

KBSI FOX23 News at 9 p.m.

MARION, Ill., (KBSI) — Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois is inviting the public to attend a Welcome Home Ceremony for Flight #15 on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois.

The celebration will begin at 5 p.m. outside the airline terminal and will feature food trucks, entertainment, and a festival-style atmosphere leading up to the official ceremony at 8:45 p.m. Nearly 90 veterans are expected to return from a one-day trip to Washington, D.C., where they visited war memorials in their honor.

“The community support for previous Welcome Home events has been overwhelming,” said Deborah Hogg, Welcome Home organizer. “There is no better way to celebrate our veterans and honor them than by giving them a hero’s welcome.”

Attendees are encouraged to bring banners, flags, lawn chairs, and wear patriotic attire. Food trucks scheduled to participate include Cone to Table, Crazy Asian Eats, Venezi Wood Fire Pizza, The Caribbean Hut, Big Nate’s BBQ, TasTea Bowls & Treats, Cold Brew Coffee, Kettle Corn by Bob McSpadden, HoneyBeez Snowballz, and American Ice Cream. All have donated proceeds to Honor Flight.

Live entertainment will begin at 5 p.m. with performances from Tim Crosby and Gaje & Phoebe Baker. The formal program will start at 8:45 p.m. with emcee Steve Falat from River Radio and the National Anthem performed by DeAnna Cullum of Brighton, Tenn.

To ease congestion at the airport, organizers recommend that the public use free park-and-ride services from Sam’s Club and Cornerstone Church in Marion. Transportation will be provided by T-Street Rides, Shawnee Mass Transit, and Veterans Honor Flight, with shuttles departing every 20 minutes beginning at 5 p.m.

More than 350 volunteers, identifiable by bright orange lanyards, will be on-site to assist attendees. Veterans who have participated in previous Honor Flights are encouraged to wear their red shirts and will receive VIP access at the ceremony.

“We want the veterans to witness a sea of red, white, and blue when they depart the plane,” Hogg said.

Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides all-expenses-paid trips for veterans to visit memorials in Washington, D.C. The effort is operated entirely by volunteers, with 98.5 cents of every donated dollar going directly to veterans.

For more information, or to apply to become a guardian, volunteer, or veteran participant, visit www.veteranshonorflight.org.