video by Brayden Barger and Nicco Morello | photography by Alexandra Fernholz

Last night at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) Terminal, a crowd of over 700 gathered to welcome home a group of 87 veterans from the monthly honor flight. The Honor Flight program honors any World War II, Korean War or Vietnam veteran over 65 by flying them out to Washington D.C. on an all-expenses paid trip to visit their memorials, as well as Arlington National Cemetery. The first Honor Flight was in May 2005, when six small planes flew 12 veterans to Washington D.C.

Since then, the program has grown to 159,000 participants.  when Each veteran must fill out an application to go and must be accompanied by a guardian to assist them around the city. In 2019, there have been four Honor Flights to date, the most recent of which was last night. The plane touched down at 9:05 PM, to be greeted by a crowd of families, community members, and East students. This is the third year East students have been able to go to support the veterans. Students signed up at lunch and presented a signed permission slip from their parents. The district provided transportation to the CVG terminal as well as a pizza dinner for participants.