Veterans welcomed home after first Greater Peoria Honor Flight of 2023
PEORIA (25News Now) - People from across the Peoria area came out to welcome dozens of veterans home after their one-day trip to the nation’s capital.
Seventy-five veterans took off from General Wayne A. Downing International Airport early Tuesday morning. They spent the day visiting several of the war monuments in Washington D.C., accompanied by guardian chaperones, Honor Flight staff and the Gibson Girls, who performed songs from that era.
When they returned Tuesday evening, they were given a patriotic greeting featuring special guests like Abraham Lincoln.
Three of the veterans served in World War II. Al Purvis of Darien, Illinois, Dean Kendall of Washington, Illinois, and Jules Breyne of Aurora, Illinois. Purvis and Breyne are both 99 years old.
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