Banquet and Welcome Home Reception

Sanford Event Barn hosted the Honors Flight Banquet for the veterans and their guardians. (Each veteran and guardian could bring a guest.)

The trailer is used to transport items (post cards, caps, shirts, pins, coins, Christmas ornaments, etc.) for sale. The for-sale items are one of the fundraisers to help support the Honor Flight program. The trailer also brought 168 T-shirts and lightweight pull-overs for the veterans and their guardians. 

three-course meal with delicious cheesecake for dessert

Karl and Curt

Curt with the two guests

82 of the 83 veterans were present and answered to roll call. Five branches of service were represented: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and 1 from the Coast Guard.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that every veteran had to have a guardian in attendance on the flight. At our table we met Don (the veteran) and his wife who have three children. None of the children were able to accompany Don for the flight to Washington DC for the day. His guardian, Arlene and her husband, were also at the table. They had met earlier that day at the hotel. They did not know each other prior to last Monday. Arlene volunteered to be an Honor Flight guardian because of her nursing and health care background and because of her strong belief in the mission of the Honor Flight Program. 

The concourse of the Sioux Falls airport hosted the Welcome Home Reception on Tuesday evening.

last minute sign making

family members and friends gathered for the reception

some of the crowd waiting

Curt's signs

I was so proud of our two grands. They shook hands and talked to every veteran who passed, thanking them for their service.

the flag line at the bottom of the escalator & stairs

The Patriot Guard Riders were invited to stand flag line for the “Gary & Connie Grittner Foundation” Midwest Honor Flight, Mission 27. A bagpipe troupe was also present. In the background you can see guardians and veterans in wheelchairs, as they were the first to deplane.

I know some of the veterans did not receive the kind of Welcome Home Curt and the 1742nd National Guard unit received on May 22, 1991 when they returned from active duty in Desert Storm. The city had a parade. His staff and students had a program at school. And our families gathered that weekend for our daughter's high school graduation. An emotional time in May 1991 and an emotional one in September 2025.

and finally from the back of the plane...

grandson is getting a hug

some of the signs thanking the service members

three generations gathered for this veteran

Thank you to Tommy Biehl for your donation from this year's River City Truck Fest! $5,300 was raised from the event to send 5 Veterans on a future flight! The 2025 River City Truck Fest took place Saturday, September 20 in Platte. Pictured are 3 Veterans from Platte who recently flew on Mission 27 along with Tommy presenting the check at our Welcome Home.

Aaron Van Beek (in the red shirt) is the president and CEO of Midwest Honor Flight. Aaron is a history teacher in NW Iowa and is responsible for organizing all 27 missions from South Dakota. The Honor Flight Program is possible because of private donations such as this one. Veterans from SW Minnesota, NW Iowa, NE Nebraska and South Dakota are eligible for the Honor Flight Program. Application forms are on the website I mentioned in the previous blog post.

Midwest Honor Flight

Curt was selected to participate in Mission #27 of the Midwest Honor Flight to Washington DC on September 23rd. He was one of the 83 veterans who served during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam selected for the trip. Our son, Karl, was his guardian for the one LONG day adventure to see the memorials and monuments in our nation's capital. Curt had not been to Washington DC since the summer of 1977. Karl had not been there since June 1996. Each veteran was required to be accompanied by a guardian (not a spouse). 

There was a banquet the night before the flight and a Welcome Home ceremony when they arrived back in Sioux Falls. I will post some photos from those two events in another blog post.

Karl had specific duties once they landed in Washington DC. I requested he take photos so I (and you) would know what they saw. I was also interested in seeing the extra security that has been assigned to the city. So most of the photos in this post are from Karl. There are a few from the volunteer camera crew that accompanied the Honor Flight.

The flight left Sioux Falls at 4:30 AM.

The Guardians wore white shirts. The Veterans wore blue shirts.

US Air Force Memorial

270' high

The Honor Guard statues at the Air Force Memorial

Washington Monument and the Pentagon in the background

Arlington National Cemetery

 Honor Flight personnel wore orange shirts. 

Marine Memorial

geocaching at the US Navy Memorial

honoring the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, 

& Merchant Marine

authorized in 1980, completed in 1987

Washington Monument

along the Mall

National Guard personnel at the Washington Monument

World War II Memorial

16 million served in WWII

400,000 paid the ultimate price

Korean War Memorial

19 stainless steel figures standing 7' tall, representing 

Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force

I had three uncles who served in the Korean War

Wall of Remembrance dedicated to all those who lost their life

 Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, 

 Oriental and Native American soldiers are represented 

A group of high school students from Korea were visiting this memorial when the Honor Flight arrived. The students visited with the (I think 4 or 5) Korean veterans and had a group photo taken with our veterans. This photo was posted by a guardian of one of the Korean veterans. 

Lincoln Memorial from the Mall

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial

over 58,000 names are listed on The Wall

The Jet Blue plane touched down in Sioux Falls just before 9 PM Tuesday evening. It was an amazing, impressive, and well-organized trip. Groups of people with signs and flags met them at the Dulles airport and at a number of their stops. They were offered snacks and water throughout the day, along with their three meals. Curt had a packet of cards and letters to read from well-wishers he did not know. So did all the Honor Flight veterans.

It costs around $200,000 for an Honor Flight. There is no cost to the veterans. The guardians consider it an honor to pay for their flight. Mission Flight #27 was sponsored by the Gary & Connie Grittner Foundation. All flights are privately funded through donations. If you would like more information, consider checking the Midwest Honor Flight webpage. 

Kansas Wildflowers

 Kansas is the Sunflower State. I was expecting to see fields of sunflowers, as in the grain. Instead, this is what I saw. 

Sunflowers, wild and like the weed, growing in ditches and unfarmed areas, but never at the location of a geocache. I really wanted photos of sunflowers. 

On our last day of geocaching, we headed down a minimum-maintenance road looking for a geocache at a bridge. Now, a bridge on a minimum-maintenance road can mean water, mud or even washed-out roads, or other unexpected obstacles. Since we were back in hill country, we could not see our destination, but Hubby forged on. We found the geocache and were able to turn the truck around and head back to the highway. The reward for driving the less-traveled road was Kansas Wildflowers!

Common Sunflower (with unidentified bugs)

Biennial Beebalm

Biennial Beebalm

Chicory

Periwinkle Blue Chicory

White Chicory

a bumble bee at work

Morning Glory

Blue Morning Glory

Firethorn (at a location in Leavenworth)

Goldenrod (also in Leavenworth)

Red Clover

Russian Sage (also in Leavenworth)

Sawtooth Sunflower

Sawtooth Sunflower