21 local veterans return home from Honor Flight

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands returned home from a trip on Sunday.

An honor flight is a free memorial trip to Washington, D.C., where veterans can honor soldiers from the Vietnam and Korean Wars. Michelle Stewart, president of the chapter’s board of directors, said the veterans spent all day touring the city and visiting memorial sites.

Stewart said 21 local veterans toured the D-Day Memorial, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider and saw the Vietnam Memorial Wall over the weekend.

“It’s no greater joy than to take 21 veterans on a trip of a lifetime and then bring them home to be welcomed home by their community,” said Stewart, “You know, many of those veterans, when they came home from their service, they were not welcomed home back in [the] early seventies. They were not treated well. This gives us and gives them that change. It gives [the community] the opportunity to change that. Welcome home. And we are so grateful that the community came out to honor those soldiers and to give them the welcome home they deserve.”

Stewart said a notable from this honor flight was a 92-year-old Korean War veteran who told jokes and sang songs throughout the weekend.

The chapter will take another trip in October. To learn more about the Honor Flight of the Appalachian Highlands, visit its official website .

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