KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- More than 50 veterans from the Kansas City area took the trip of a lifetime Thursday morning to Washington D.C. for the Honor Flight.
Honor Flight KC has been taking veterans to D.C. for nearly 10 years. This time around, the flight will take 55 local veterans on a day trip to the nation's capital.
“I am so excited. I’ve been waiting for this for a while,” said Army veteran Martin Foglel.
A lot of the veterans on the flight have never seen the war memorials that are dedicated to them for their service.
“I look forward to this because I’ve been waiting for quite a while. I put my application in two years ago. I got the call, and I was so excited. I’m looking forward to all the memorials,” said Vietnam Army veteran Melvin Carmichael, Jr.
“You look around, and you see a lot of of memories. There are a lot of people here and everyone had different experiences,” said Foglel.
The oldest veteran that took the trip is 100-year-old Joe Lasala.
“I don’t know how to express it. It makes you feel good. In a way, it also makes you feel bad. But more good than bad. I think of the good parts because everyone has something bad,” said Lasala.
Korean War veteran Charlie Samenus says the trip makes him feel appreciated.
“Just seeing all of these men, some of us are in our sixties, seventies, we even have a 100-year-old here," said Samenus. "This is great. I am just going to enjoy every bit of it."
The honor flight members will return Thursday evening, landing at KCI at 9 p.m.
Everyone is invited to welcome the veterans back home. You can see them at gate C-14.
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