Veterans

Your day on an Honor Flight trip to Washington D.C.

Your trip with Franklin County Honor Flight will be a long and emotional day. We are confident it will be a day, you will never forget. Honor Flight participants have told us that next to their wedding day and the births of their children, their Honor Flight is one of the top highlights of their lives.

Before the day of the trip, please get plenty of rest and nourishment, especially fluids, during the days leading up to your flight. We provide you with bottled water throughout the day, available on the bus, please keep drinking water.  There will be toilet facilities at the airports, on the bus, and at the Memorials. Please ask your guardian or team leader if you need to locate a restroom throughout the day. We have a deluxe motor coach bus that we use as ground transportation.  This bus is ours throughout the day, if you care to leave an item on the bus, it will be there when you return to the bus.

The day starts early, we arrive at the Mid-American Coaches bus terminal in Washington, Missouri at 2 AM.  We have a police escort to Lambert Airport in St. Louis. We will arrive at the airport around 3:30 AM. We will be greeted by the USO with snacks and coffee.  This early arrival allows time for checking in, meeting up with your guardian for the day, and processing through TSA security before boarding the plane to Baltimore Maryland.  We will have a breakfast sandwich in the gate area. After arrival in Baltimore, we will eat on the bus during our trip to Washington D.C., escorted by the police.

The highlight of every trip is our stop at the World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War Memorials where you will have time to visit and reflect on your service and the service of others.  The trip includes visits to other memorials, as time allows. Trips usually include a stop at the Iwo Jima Memorial, The Air Force Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery. 

Wheelchairs, if you need one, please request one for your trip, we bring the wheelchairs and extras with us. We have found veterans may tire by the end of the day.  

 We leave for home at Reagan National Airport. There will be another security screening for the return flight. Once we are back in St. Louis or Washington Missouri, we make sure you are back with your family.