Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois is calling on the entire community to come out and celebrate 88 local veterans at the Flight #16 Welcome Home Celebration on Monday, May 18, beginning at 5:00 p.m. The free, family-friendly event will be held outdoors in front of the airline terminal at Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois. After spending the day touring memorials and monuments in Washington, D.C., the veterans will return home to a hero's welcome — complete with food trucks, live entertainment, a kids' zone, and hundreds of flag-waving neighbors lining the Freedom Path. “The community support for the previous Honor Flight Welcome Home events has been overwhelming. There is no better way to celebrate our veterans and honor them than by giving them a hero’s welcome home.†[...Read more]

[embed]https://youtu.be/uxR6LZ1FqS8[/embed] Board member Evan shares an update regarding Veteran selection for Mission 16. [...Read more]

Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois completed the 15th Honor Flight from Marion, Illinois earlier this month. Since its inception in 2016, Veterans Honor Flight has honored over 1,200 veterans from Southern Illinois and the surrounding communities, but the group isn't done yet. "We have over 350 Veterans waiting for their turn on Honor Flight," chairman Bryan Questelle said. "We won't stop until every Veteran in Southern Illinois has been honored the way they deserve." To that point, the group announced two missions for 2026. Mission 16 will fly on Monday, May 18, 2026. Mission 17 will fly on Monday, September 14, 2026. Each mission is expected to carry at least 85 Veterans. Veterans are selected for Honor Flight based on age, with the oldest Veterans being chosen first. All [...Read more]