Veterans Flight

This year’s Honor Flight of the Cape Fear Area takes off in April with local veterans aboard for a day of remembrance.

This is the nonprofit’s fifth annual trip since the project resumed locally in 2022. As in other parts of the country, Honor Flights honors WWII-, Korean War-, and Vietnam War-era veterans by taking them on an expense-free flight to Washington, D.C., to visit national memorials.

On April 18, eighty-five veterans will board at Wilmington International Airport, along with a team of volunteers. “I’m the daughter of a WWII WAC and a retired Navy Chief. Being on the Honor Flight allowed me to pay tribute to all the ladies before me and show future generations there is a place of honor for women,” says KATHRYN HARE, who served in the Navy and was one of the veterans on last year’s flight.

During the day, they visit the World War II Memorial, Navy Memorial, Marine Corps War Memorial, the Air Force Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and Korean War Veterans Memorial.

“We do make a special stop at the MWM (Military Women’s Memorial) for the women veterans onboard to receive a certificate,” Ravitz Smith says.

The community can participate in a welcome-home celebration at the airport when the flight lands that evening, when hundreds of community members greet the returning veterans. The group is also collecting letters until March 20 to hand out to veterans on the flight up as part of Operation Mail Call.

Info: honorflightcfa.org

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