All Honor Flight reunion held at Wamego High School

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - 2022 marked 10 years since the Kansas Honor Flight was affiliated with the National Honor Flight and people were ready to pay their respects.

Flight Coordinator Shawn Hornung says it took 29 months to get veterans back to Washington D.C. October 2021 was their first Honor Flight since the pandemic hit but they recently went to D.C. for the Honor Flight in April.

“It feels tremendous, I mean to be at this event for as long as we have been and see so many faces come back and to just listen to them visit and reconnect with their students and members of their flight, it’s pretty special,” Hornung said.

Topeka natives Navy veteran Larry Rogers and Coast Guard veteran John Taylor say today’s reunion was heartwarming.

“It brings tears to my eyes, not only seeing the veterans but seeing the people from Wamego put this all together, Shawn, Suzy, all of them, it’s great to talk to them, it’s been great to talk to the other vets,” Rogers said.

“Oh the day has been great, I got to see my little guardian again, which always makes it nice, always nice. But, there are more people here than I thought there would be, it’s a great gathering,” Taylor said.

During the ceremony, all veterans and student guardians that flew to D.C. were asked to stand and be honored with a round of applause.

Josephine Benson, Taylor’s student guardian says her experience was incredible.

“It’s been really amazing getting to know somebody who served our country and for me the experience has been very much like getting a third grandfather so I would definitely recommend it,” Benson said.

“When we arrived at the airport, there were people there clapping and thanking us for our service and it was a really great experience. So many good monuments and so on we got to visit and it was a really great experience,” Taylor said.

A children’s book was also on sale called “Honor Flight Honoring our Heroes, Wamego High School.” It was illustrated to show the younger generation what honor flights are all about.

All the proceeds from the book will go towards the next Honor Flight.

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