Honor Flight of 2018

Hailey Lazar, MS Staff Writer

On October 13th, 2018 at the Palm Beach International Airport, WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans arrived from a full day in Washington DC that honored their time served in the wars.

Mike Day, a Vietnam veteran, spoke about how it made himself feel seeing all of the people there for him and other vets. “It was [an] amazing [experience]! All of the smiling faces, and everyone was in the same patriotic spirit,” he said.

Hailey Lazar

There were a total of 82 veterans that attended the Florida 2018 Honor flight. Other veterans were not able to attend because of their current condition, caused by age or illness. Everyone was accompanied by volunteers to guide them throughout their special day in Washington DC.

Eileen Kahn, an adult that attended the event said, “The experience was wonderful and I was very proud of all of my Girl Scouts who came to support the veterans. It was very to cool to see all of the people [that attended].”

Approximately 2,000 people came to the Palm Beach International airport to welcome home the veterans after a full day of tourism in Washington DC. They had attended many of the significant monuments.

5th grader Meadow Kahn said, “It made me feel good inside and it was a very good experience because I got to see all the people that helped [our country] and was there and to help us where we are right now.”

Some people in the crowd gave out heart-warming cards, posters, and trinkets. The veterans displayed ginormous grins across their faces as they received these gifts.

Mike Day, a Vietnam veteran, described his day in Washington D.C. and said, “We got to see all the monuments. A number of services were done for us. We went to the Arlington National Cemetery, saw the changing of the guards. It really made us appreciate what it’s all about. There was a lot of honor.”

Hailey Lazar
Veterans and Volunteers parade through Palm Beach International Airport after the annual Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.