Eastern Iowa Honor Flight cancels 2020 trips

Jun. 16, 2020 9:45 am

Eastern Iowa Honor Flight has canceled its remaining flights for 2020 after a decision by the national Honor Flight Network board of directors last week.

The decision was made to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus to veterans on trips to Washington, D.C.

'The Eastern Iowa Honor Flight will move our flights to next year,” President Dick Bell said in an email. 'We are in the process of securing flight dates for April, May, September, and October 2021.”

The Honor Flight takes veterans and their guardians from The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids to D.C., where they view national monuments and are celebrated for their service to the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, Reserves and National Guard. When the chartered flights return to Cedar Rapids, family and friends come to cheer for them.

The Eastern Iowa Honor Flight accepts applications from veterans in Benton, Iowa, Jasper, Jones, Johnson, Linn, Marshall, South Tama, Poweshiek and Washington Counties. Veterans from surrounding areas are welcome if they are able to fly from The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids.

The Eastern Iowa group has flown nearly 3,500 veterans on 38 flights, according to its website.

Some states will continue to do bus trips to D.C. through 2020, Bell said.

Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com

Veterans on an Eastern Iowa Honor Flight trip congregate for the presentation of colors at the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. (The Gazette)