120 veterans left Loveland on Sunday on a trip to Washington, D.C., compliments of High Plains Honor Flight.
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The group of veterans and volunteers gathered Sunday morning at the Ranch Events Complex in Loveland, dressed in High Plains Honor Flight t-shirts and hats.
The sendoff ceremony featured poetry readings, musical performances and speeches filled with gratitude, like the finale by retired Air Force Colonel Skip Morgan.
“In the words of Winston Churchill," Morgan quoted, "'Never in the history of humankind has so much been owed to so few by so many,’ and that’s why we’re here.'”
High Plains Honor Flight takes Veterans of World War Two, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and Purple Heart recipients on free trips to visit the nation’s capital and tour war memorials.
The nonprofit has sent more than 4,000 veterans to D.C.-area war memorials since 2008.
Army Veteran Lyle Stempke said he’d caught glimpses of the war memorials in the capital before. But now he’s looking forward to finally standing on those hallowed grounds.
“I was there with a semi in DC," Stempke told KUNC. "But you're not allowed out of the truck with a semi, and this time I get to be out. So I'm just emotional.”
A bagpiper sent off the buses with a police escort as supporters lined the path to Northern Colorado Regional Airport, holding flags and waving.
This is High Plains Honor Flight’s 28th trip. The group will visit Arlington National Cemetery, the Vietnam Wall, and the Korea, Iwo Jima and World War II memorials.
