On Saturday the 21st, supporters welcomed 100 Dayton area Veterans back from an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. at Dayton International Airport. Some of these supporters were family and friends, while some were just community members wanting to show support.

These veterans departed Dayton International at 3a.m. on Saturday to visit the nations capital. Veterans of the Cold War, Vietnam and the Korean War visited various war memorials in and around D.C. In an interview with WDTN,  Jennifer Landess, a Honor Flight volunteer, said, “It’s not just going and seeing memorials, it’s giving them that opportunity to have closure for themselves” (Lewis, Bales, Sept. 22).

Their day ended when they returned to Dayton International later the same day. It was a special moment as they walked through the concourses and terminal as supporters crowded the airport to welcome the returning veterans. This was one of the first times veterans had such support while returning from an honor flight.

“It’s a huge turnout,” said Kelsey Kamentz one of many supporters that showed up at Dayton International.  “I wasn’t expecting it to look like this. I’m just so excited to welcome everyone home together.” she said in an interview with WDTN (Lewis, Bales, Sept. 22).

“This is what they needed to get originally,” said April Kamentz, community member in an interview with WDTN (Lewis, Bales, Sept. 22).They go on to say, “They deserve to have this kind of recognition. I’m really proud of all of them” (Lewis, Bales, Sept. 22).

Honor Flight is a volunteer-run organization working through 122 airports around the country that helps transport veterans to memorials built in their honor. To date they have transported nearly 300,000 veterans.