Veterans get together at Honor Flight reunion

After five U.P. Honor Flight missions, the program took a different direction over the weekend.

Upper Michigan veterans who made the no-cost, one-day trip to the nation’s capitol on three of the five honor flights were honored Sunday.

The event provided an opportunity for the men and women, their families, and the guardians who accompanied them, to re-live that one long and emotional day.

It also allowed for a hearty round of “Thank you’s” to those who have worked to make the U.P. Honor Flight possible.

“I lived in Japan for twenty-three years, and I also lived in this country for forty-one years now, and so few people know how grateful Japan was to the united states,” Guest speaker Reiko McKendry said.  “Nobody talks about it, so I thought it needs to be said.”

“The honor flight was awesome, that’s all I have to say… it was awesome,” Veteran Charles Makosky said.  “I’d go again if I could.”

Those who traveled on Honor Flight missions three and four will have a similar event Monday evening.

The U.P. Honor Flight transports Upper Peninsula’s war veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the national memorials that stand in honor of their service and sacrifice.

So far, nearly 400 World War II and Korean War veterans from the U.P. have taken the trip.

find out more about the non–profit organization that arranges this trip at upper peninsula honor flight dot org.