ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Another group of veterans returned to Rochester Sunday after spending the weekend touring Washington, D.C.
Mission 99 marked the final trip of the year for Honor Flight Rochester, which flew 59 veterans to visit the monuments in the nation’s capital. Organizers said it was a trip of a lifetime for many of the veterans.
The veterans of Mission 99 included two from the Korean War, one Cold War veteran, one Cold War/Vietnam veteran, nine Vietnam veterans, and 46 post-1975-era veterans. It also included 17 Air Force veterans, 22 Army veterans, four Marine Corps veterans, and 16 Navy veterans.
We caught up with two members of the mission: a father and son.
“Mission 99, which was significant in the fact that they had Desert Shield, Desert Storm memorial celebration, ceremony, ribbon-cutting for that memorial being done. So, I’d never through that type of service before, and so it was incredible just to be in the midst of so many Desert Shield Desert Storm veterans,” said Willie Lightfoot Sr., who served in the United States Airforce, serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Desert Storm.
“It was a great honor to be able to take my dad to this trip, and it was great being able to see him reconnect with a lot of people that he may have not seen in a long time,” said Willie Lightfoot Jr., who was the mission guardian for his father.
As of Sunday, 5,136 veterans have been flown on Honor Flight since 2008.
For a link to apply as a veteran, click here. For a link to apply as a volunteer, click here.
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