Nearly 90 Greater Cincinnati veterans flew to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 22, to visit their memorials.

The Honor Flight departed from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport that morning, WLWT reported. The nonprofit program flies veterans over the age of 65 at no cost.

The group's itinerary included the World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the United States Air Force Memorial.

Welcome-home ceremony open to the public

Veterans and their guardians are scheduled to land back at CVG around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22. The public is invited to a welcome-home ceremony on the third floor of the rental car area, to the right of the ticketing counters. Local 12 described the return as a massive welcome home that some of the veterans never received.

Local ties run deep

The Honor Flight program has strong roots in the Anderson Township area. American Legion Post 318 members MSG John Listerman (Ret.) and his daughter, MSG Christina Sunderhaus (Ret.), flew on the Cincinnati Honor Flight on April 7. Sunderhaus, the post's 2nd Vice Commander, wrote in the Post 318 May newsletter that the organization left nothing to chance. "There was nothing they didn't think of to make the trip manageable and safe," she wrote of the April flight.

On March 8, a "Flightless Honor Flight" at the Anderson Center honored veterans unable to travel to Washington due to health or mobility challenges. Post 318 provided a Color Guard detail for that event.

Anderson High School's girls soccer team has also raised money for Honor Flight Tri-State through its annual Military Honor Night, a tradition that has run for at least four years, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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