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 Veterans are eligible, regardless of branch of service, dates of service, or theater of service. Veterans can apply online at www.veteranshonorflight.org.
To be considered for Mission 16 (May 2026) applications must be submitted no later than December 31, 2025. To be considered for Mission 17 (September 2026) applications must be submitted no later than May 1, 2026.
Veterans who have applied but are not selected for Missions in 2026 will remain active and will be selected based on age for future missions.
All Honor Flight missions are 100% donation funded. Each mission costs over $120,000 to operate.
If you would like to support Veterans Honor Flight, donations can be made at www.veteranshonorflight.org or any Peoples National Bank or Banterra Bank facility in Southern Illinois. All donations are tax deductible. Additionally, donations may be made in association with sponsorships, such as a wheelchair banner sponsorship ($100) which places a banner on one of the wheelchairs taken to Washington D.C. in honor or memory of a veteran or with a personal message. For additional sponsorship information, visit www.veteranshonorflight.org.
Follow Veterans Honor Flight on Facebook (www.facebook.com/veteranshonorflight) or Instagram (www.instagram.com/vethonorflight) for the latest information.
Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois is a hub of the Honor Flight Network and is dedicated to the service of the veterans in Southern Illinois. Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with all available donations going directly to flight costs. As of 2024, 98.9 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to mission costs.
