When Middle Georgia Honor Flight takes its next flight to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, September 10, the trip will include Forest and Marie Meredith from Warner Robins. Forest served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and Marie was in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War era. While Mrs. Meredith will be the only female veteran on the trip, Mr. Meredith will be one of two World War II veterans on the September honor flight.

While the honor flight is visiting the Vietnam War Memorial each of the ten Vietnam veterans who are on the trip will receive a special 50th anniversary commemorative lapel pin. SFC Ralph Walton with the U.S. Vietnam War Commemoration will meet the local group at the memorial wall and present these pins. These pins are being given to Vietnam veterans through 2025.

And author John D. Hollis will accompany the Middle Georgia Honor Flight during its day in the nation’s capital. In 2018, Hollis wrote SGT Rodney M. Davis: The Making of a Hero, a book about Macon’s only Medal of Honor recipient. Hollis lives in Fairfax, Virginia, and is a Senior Communications Officer at George Mason University.

Middle Georgia Honor Flight takes 13 veterans to the nation’s capital six times each year to see their memorials, at no cost to the veterans. A guardian for each veteran, two honor flight staff members, a nurse, and a media representative also accompany the Contour Airlines flight which departs from Middle Georgia Regional Airport at 6:30 a.m. The honorees board a charter bus on arrival at BWI Airport, where they are joined by several active-duty personnel who spend the day with these veterans.

After a full day in Washington, the group will arrive back at Middle Georgia Regional Airport around 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night. The public is always encouraged to attend the “Welcome Home” for these veterans, and parking is free at the local airport.

Middle Georgia Honor Flight is one of over 130 hubs nationwide which honors veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam in this way. The September 10 flight will be the fourth of 2022, with two more honor flights scheduled for October 8 and November 12.

For more information about Middle Georgia Honor Flight, contact Ben Sandifer at (478) 957-2806.