87 Polk County veterans depart Lakeland on Honor Flight for day-long trip to Washington, D.C.

Honor Flight for veterans

At 100 years old, a WWII and Korean War veteran is headed to D.C. FOX 13’s Heather Healy shares the story of his upcoming Honor Flight.

LAKELAND, Fla. - It’s a trip of a lifetime for some of our military veterans.

The backstory:

Veterans and their companions took off around 6:00 a.m. Tuesday morning for a full day of sightseeing at the nation’s capital. It’s the Polk County Veterans Council Flight to Honor Mission #11. Veterans participating in the mission fly for free and are accompanied by a guardian for the day. Once the 87 veterans land, it’s a full day of seeing the memorials and monuments, changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and much more.

These veterans were so excited at 4:30 a.m. to hop on board their flight and make a full day of memories.

What they're saying:

"The comradery of all the vets here, that’s what I’m taking away from here," said Ernie Belkham, a Vietnam veteran in the Marine Corp.

"Brother in arms its the connection relationship is there automatically," said Vietnam veteran Stan Charett.

"The last time I was in Washington was probably 10 years ago, and I'm looking forward to just seeing the monuments around the pool, and I am looking forward to the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. I've never seen that one before, so I am looking forward to that," Belkham added.

The flight comes back later Tuesday evening with a big homecoming celebration in Lakeland.  

For more information on Flight to Honor, click here.