Honor Flight carrying close to 100 West Virginia Veterans and 55 guardians will leave the Clarksburg airport on May 7, 2016 heading towards Washington D.C. The Honor Flight will have veterans from WWII, Korea and Vietnam eras and the day will consist of traveling to several monuments throughout Washington, D.C.

 

Organizer  of the flight Tanya Cayton from McNeer, Highland, McMunn and Varner, L.C. as well as Dennis Shreve, Bob McKinnley, Amy Johnson and Dan Johnson took over the flight in September of 2015 after previous organizers Aaron Hawkins and Butch Phillips retired from the project. Mrs. Cayton was approached about taking over the flight in early September and without hesitation her and the law firm she works for decided the flight could not go away. Mrs. Cayton stated “this flight is very important to our community and to our veterans and our firm has been involved in some way since it started in North Central West Virginia, so there was no way we were going to let this flight be cancelled.  Mrs. Cayton  that “several of our veterans have never been to the monuments in Washington D.C. and most of them never received the thank you or welcome home that they truly deserve and that is what this day is about our veterans.

 

Shawn Long from the Clarksburg Airport says “The Honor Flight allows us the opportunity to open our doors to the community and come together in celebrating the veterans and giving them the ‘Welcome Home’ that they deserve.”

 

Mrs. Cayton added “This flight would not be possible if it wasn’t for such great support we receive from Rick Rock, Shawn Long and several other employees from the Clarksburg Airport. As well as Tracy Miller from Mid Atlantic Aerospace Complex who is a donor as well as well as a valuable asset in providing parking for the flight. The Honor Flight has to have financial support each year which is provided by local business’ McNeer, Highland, McMunn and Varner, L.C., Clarksburg Airport, Mid Atlantic Areospace Complex, First Energy, Will and Mary Mutschelknaus and Frontier Communications, who was once again very generous with their donations to this flight. The flight also received several donations from the public which really helped meet the $50,000.00 it cost to have this flight.  Without the support of the donors and our guardians this flight would not be possible.”

 

The day will begin at 5:30 a.m. at the Clarksburg Airport where the veterans and guardians will pair up with one another and have breakfast. Shortly after breakfast, the flight will head to Washington D.C. where the veterans will land at Ronald Regan International Airport to receive a heartwarming welcome from hundreds of civilians. The veterans will be taken by bus to several monuments and museums before heading to a dinner provided by the Knights of Columbus. After a long day the veterans will board the plane around 8:00 p.m. where they will receive mail call.  When the veterans receive mail call it is very emotional for most of them. Most of the veterans waited months to receive letters from their friends, family or loved ones and never received anything so this is a very special time for these gentlemen. 

 

The flight carrying our veterans will return to Clarksburg around 8:30 p.m. on May 7, 2016, where they will then be greeted by the East Fairmont Busy Bee’s, Hogs for Hero’s, Patriot Guard, Lincoln High School Color Guard, multiple friends, family members and residents from North Central WV.  We encourage everyone to come to the airport early and to help welcome home our Honor Flight” stated Mrs. Cayton.

 

Amy Johnson Hub Director from Huntington added.  “Honor Flight was formed in 2005 and Honor Flight Huntington was formed in 2013. Since then we have taken over 400 veterans to DC. Saturday, May 7 marks the 6^th flight and the third from Clarksburg. We will be taking 81 veterans on this trip, consisting of 7 WWII vets, 11 Korean vets and 63 Vietnams vets. As the new Hub Director, living in Huntington, this has been quite a challenge. Tanya Cayton has been immeasurable in helping to get this flight off the ground. I hope to continue this relationship with her and work to get as many veterans as we can to DC.  It is truly a special honor to be a part of this and for that I am extremely grateful. It takes many, many people to pull this off and I am asking you to come out and do your part. Come support these veterans and help to welcome them home when we arrive back at the airport Saturday evening. Hope to see the place full with flag waving supporters.