Honor Flight taking off next month, city asks to celebrate with veterans

March 31, 2022 | 12:09 am

Updated March 30, 2022 | 9:41 pm

Graphic by Owensboro Times

The Owensboro Honor Flight will be taking off on April 20, and Barbara Poynter is hoping for a good turnout for the 10 Vietnam veterans flying to Washington D.C. that weekend.

While in the nation’s capital, they will be visit the World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam memorials along with Arlington National Cemetery and more.

“It’s a really long and exhausting and empowering and exciting day,” Poynter said.

Back home, however, is where the celebration happens. She said that before and after the trip there will be a send-off and return celebration to honor the veterans and the work they put into their respective wars.

On April 19, the send-off before will include a performance from Kentucky Youth Chorale, and Engine One will be in attendance. All events will start at 12:30 p.m. Once the celebration is over, a motorcade will escort the veterans to Louisville before their flight the next morning.

Upon arriving back in town April 21, organizers plan to have a return celebration at the Owensboro National Guard Armory at roughly 11 a.m., staged similar to the veterans’ return from war.

“We want the City of Owensboro celebrating they’re coming home and lining the streets and cheering for them as though we were bringing them home,” Poynter said. “I cannot stress enough how much we’re hoping that people line the streets for this return celebration.”

Poynter is asking that people line up along Tamarack Road and Frederica Street to welcome and thank the veterans for their contributions.

She said that the Vietnam veterans on this flight hold a special place in her heart, as the war was starting to come to a peak when she was a child and many of those on the flight were in their early 20s when they served originally.

When planning this, Poynter said she was thinking about those who fought for the country at a young age and when they arrived home might not have been welcomed for their sacrifice.

“I can’t imagine giving service to our country and not being celebrated and thanked for it,” Poynter said. “So it’s important to me to help celebrate and show them the thanks that they may or may not have gotten when they returned home.”

The trip will conclude with a music performance by the 100 Ceremonial Band from Fort Knox to provide the veterans with a private mini-concert and a small lunch at the armory.

Through the program, Poynter said she has been lucky to see several veterans experience the flight and walk away consistently with a full heart about the experience.

March 31, 2022 | 12:09 am

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